Vrhovina: River, Hiking Routes and History

Vrhovina lies on the southwestern side of Treskavica, at an elevation of about 1,200 metres. Three specific themes are central to planning your trip: the springs and course of the Vrhovinska rijeka, the Via Dinarica stages, and archaeological connections in the Kalinovik area. If you are looking for a hotel in Vrhovina, you can first consider whether you would prefer to connect your stay with hiking, the waterside landscape or regional history. Keep the river’s length and the stage distances separate, as they describe different routes.

Watercourses and Landscape

Several powerful springs in Vrhovina form the source area of the Vrhovinska rijeka. The river rises in Vrhovina and takes its name from the village. From its source to its mouth in the Neretva, it is about 12 kilometres long; the elevation difference along the river course is 635 metres. The Vrhovinska rijeka is part of the Adriatic drainage basin. These figures describe the river course, not a hiking route.

Below the village of Hotovlje, the river changes its name to the Hotovska rijeka. Together with the Graiseljička rijeka, it forms the Jezernica. Vrhovina also belongs to the Vrhovina–Vlaholje–Jelašca geological zone. In the wider area around the Treskavica highlands, there are karst depressions and areas with dolines. Dolines are closed depressions in karst landscapes.

Via Dinarica: Stages and Navigation

A route report from September 2021 gives the Via Dinarica stage from Kalinovik to Vrhovina as 16.1 kilometres and the stage from Vrhovina to Tušila as 22.7 kilometres. The second is 6.6 kilometres longer; at the same time, Vrhovina is the destination of one stage and the starting point of the other. You can compare the stages by both distance and the direction of your trip. Check current trail conditions before setting out, as the distance information dates from September 2021.

For the stage to Tušila, the report says that the route continues from Vrhovina along a gravel road in the direction of Ljuta. In the regional Via Dinarica network, markings were renewed and added on the sections from Ljuta via Jakomišlje and from Jakomišlje towards Lukavac–Vlaholje. A 2019 Via Dinarica route description also mentions a spring next to a well near Vrhovina.

History in the Kalinovik Area

Vrhovina is one of the places in the Kalinovik area where remains of prehistoric fortifications and settlements have been found in the surrounding area. These remains show that the area was inhabited in prehistoric times. Further afield in the region around Vrhovina, the historic site of the Gvozno Stećak Necropolis lies near Kalinovik. The region therefore has both traces of early settlements and a historic necropolis as distinct points of interest.

Discover more destinations: Nevesinje, Donje Vardište, Srebrenica, Brdo, Jahorina, Prnjavor, Kotor Varoš, Teslić

For the main travel overview: Republika Srpska.