Tuk - Matić-poljana - Janjčarica - Vrbovska Poljana - Bjelolasica
Starting point: MRKOPALJ
ROAD TO TUK. From the center of Mrkopalj along the asphalt road 200 m to the junction past the sawmill, along the asphalt road across the meadow another 3 km to the hut in Tuk.
MOUNTAIN HUT IN TUK (875 m) is a two-story stone building to the right along the road, next to the church. The ground floor has a kitchen and sanitary facilities, one larger and one smaller dining room, with a total of 50 seats. Upstairs there are sleeping rooms (1x2, 2x3, 1x10, 1x14, total 32 beds). In front of the house there is a parking space, and on the meadows behind the hut there are wide possibilities for camping and sports games. The hut is always open and partially supplied.
The hut is an excellent base for nice trips in Velika Kapela: to Bjelolasica, Samarske and Bijele stijene, Vrbovska and Matić-poljana, and two nearby peaks: Čelimbasa and Maj-vrh.
The path from the mountain hut leads along the road 100 m toward Jasenak, then right uphill on a short asphalt section to the rejoining with the main road. At the same place we leave the road and, following the markers, go right uphill across the meadow, then along the path by the edge of the forest to the start of Matić-poljana.
MATIĆ-POLJANA (1030 m) is a beautiful grassy high plain, about 300 m wide and almost 3 km long. A macadam road to Jasenak passes through it, to which from the left approaches a path from Begovo Razdolje. In its central part there is an original monument to the fallen fighters from WWII: in a regular row there are 28 limestone monoliths, which symbolize the column of partisans who froze here during the march through the snowstorm on 24. 2. 1944, when the temperature was -27 °C.
FROM MATIĆ-POLJANA TO JANJČARICA.
After passing the three-way junction by the monument, the road continues along the left edge of the plain about 2 km to the hunting lodge, which is to the left of the road, at the very end of the meadow. Our markers separate there to the left into the forest and with a gentle ascent on the macadam path about 40' to the pass Janjčarica, 1.45 h from Tuk. Thirty meters to the right above the pass on a small flat area there is a mountain hut.
MOUNTAIN HUT JANJČARICA (1236 m) is arranged in a former forester's house, which the Mrkopalj forestry donated to the mountaineering organization. It is a ground-floor building with a square floor plan, with an equipped kitchen and a bedroom with 7 beds. It is not supplied and is closed, and the key is kept by HPD "Bjele stijene" in Mrkopalj. It is supplied with water from a cistern. The house is surrounded by gentle wooded hills and beautiful meadows, and it offers a picture of a mountain idyll. With its very favorable location it enables a series of nice trips around Velika Kapela. Road access from Mrkopalj via Begovo Razdolje to Vrbovska Poljana, from there 5' to the house.
ASCENT TO BJELOLASICA. From Janjčarica we descend by markers or the access macadam road to Vrbovska poljana, to the junction with the macadam road Begovo Razdolje-Jasenak. Along that road to the right into the forest another about 1 km. At the first junction /the signpost marks a shorter path to the summit of Bjelolasica 45 min, but it is muddy and unpleasantly steep. Therefore it is better to continue along the road about 1 km from the junction to the place where the KPP section Samarske stijene-Bjelolasica crosses the road. We will more easily notice the markers to the right toward Samarske stijene, but from there we need to go left uphill on a ruined tractor track. The markers after 5' leave it to the left, continuing steeply uphill in switchbacks to the meadows below the very mountain ridge, to the mountain shelter.
MOUNTAIN SHELTER "JAKOB MIHELČIĆ" ON BJELOLASICA (1460 m) is a wooden hut of size 5x5 m. The interior is a nicely arranged dining room with 16 beds, wooden furniture, and two tables, one of which is incorporated into a small apse from which magnificent views open to three sides of the world, especially to Bijele and Samarske stijene. Water is in the cistern on the western side of the shelter. The shelter is of the open type, and information about it is provided by HPD "Vihor" and "Kapela" from Zagreb. It is named after the local resident who revealed the path to the summit to the mountaineers at the end of the 19th century. It is located 3' below the very ridge.
TO THE SUMMIT OF BJELOLASICA. From the shelter across the meadow there is another 3' of ascent to Kulskih njivica, i.e., the ridge of Bjelolasica. From there left along the grassy ridge with nice views, past the flat area with the mountain soccer field, to Kula another 15'. KULA (1536 m) is the highest peak of Bjelolasica, also the highest peak of Gorski kotar. Thanks to the grassy summit ridge and isolated position, from it spread beautiful views in all directions, making it, without doubt, one of the most beautiful viewpoints in Croatia. The very highest peak is located at the very edge of the summit ridge, as the last in a row of numerous grassy peaks. On the summit there is a geodetic pillar and next to it a stamp box.