Sveto Brdo – ascent to Velebit’s second-highest peak

Sveti Ivan

From the gravel road, follow the marked trail, which reaches a solitary house in the middle of the pastures after less than a kilometre. The waymarking briefly disappears here—the path continues to the left of the house, heading north.

After about 200 metres, the markings become reliable again. The trail winds between limestone outcrops and opens onto wide pastures near the remains of Sveti Ivan church (830 m), a photogenic spot with beautiful views of the surrounding peaks. Nearby there is a small muddy watering hole that can serve as an emergency water source (only after thorough filtration).

Past the church, extra attention is needed—the trail is not always clearly visible, so it is best to follow both the waymarks and your GPS. The route gradually climbs the slopes above the broad pasture to the Iza Čovika pass (1,008 m). Here it turns left and continues with a steeper ascent to another saddle at 1,293 m. Beyond it, the trail skirts a large sinkhole and briefly descends into a smaller sinkhole overgrown with old beech forest.

Dušice Shelter

Next comes a meadow with the Dušice mountain shelter (planinarsko sklonište) (1,262 m), behind which there is a covered spring. Inside the shelter you’ll find two rooms—a sleeping room with bunk beds and a small kitchen with a dining table and stove. There is a fire pit and benches in front, and camping is possible on the meadow.

Ascent to Sveto Brdo

Beyond the shelter, the route climbs briefly to a saddle and continues across a grassy meadow. Before long, the steep ascent to Sveto Brdo begins—first through beech forest, later up an open slope dotted with scattered rocks and ever-widening views.

At the top of Sveto Brdo stands a summit cross, and the panoramic view is among the most breathtaking in all of Velebit—over the Adriatic and its islands, inland, and along the main Velebit ridge stretching northward. In the distance, you can also make out the highest peak in the Velebit range—Vaganski vrh (1,757 m).

Descent to Vlaški Grad and back

After a rest on the summit, a steep descent of about 250 vertical metres leads to a saddle, followed by another 200 vertical metres down to the modern Vlaški Grad shelter (1,280 m). A few dozen metres below the shelter, the Donji izvor spring flows from a pipe.

From the shelter, there are impressive views of the steep upper slopes of Velebit, the sea, and the valley above the canyons of Velika and Mala Paklenica.

The descent continues at first gently, then more steeply, back to the plateau with the ruins of Sveti Ivan church, and from there follows the same route back to the starting point.

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