Cerovac Caves

The Cerovac Caves are located on the northeastern slopes of Mount Crnopac, above the southern edge of the Gračac Field. Currently, three caves are known: the Upper, Middle, and Lower Cerovac Caves. They were named after the nearby Cerovac railway station, although the Upper Cave was locally known as Kesić’s Cave. The Lower Cave was discovered in 1913 during the construction of the railway line toward Split. Engineer Nikola Turkalj played a key role in its exploration, promotion, and protection, which is why the Lower Cave is also called Turkalj’s Cave.
The first known speleological map of the Upper Cerovac Cave was created in 1950 by Slavko Marjanac, and in 1951, Krešimir Polák produced maps of both the Upper and Lower caves. Numerous explorations followed, along with several topographical surveys conducted by Croatian speleological associations, including SO HPD Željezničar, SO PDS Velebit, the Speleological Society of Croatia, and later SD Karlovac and others. Among the most notable researchers were Vladimir Redenšek, Mirko Malez, Srećko Božičević, Zlatko Pepeonik, Ozren Lukić, and others.

Upper Cerovac Cave

The total explored length of the channels is 4,035 meters, with a total depth of 192 meters and an overall elevation difference of 202 meters. The tourist path is 725 meters long. The entrance is spacious (10 x 6 m), located at an altitude of 671 m, and faces north. The entrance hall stretches about 30 meters southward, followed by the main passage, which then sharply turns west. There are a few smaller and only two larger side passages.
At 237 meters from the entrance, the Bear Passage (Medvjeđi rov) branches off southeast from the main corridor, extending 214 meters. About 400 meters from the entrance, another passage branches northeast — the Upper Hall (Gornja dvorana), around 80 meters long and over 15 meters wide. Numerous cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) bones have been found in the Bear Passage.
The main passage continues west, and the last 200 meters turn northwest. At around 300 meters, the corridor widens into the Great Hall (Velika dvorana), and at 400 meters into the Paleolithic Hunter’s Hall (Dvorana paleolitskog lovca), where, in addition to cave bear remains, significant paleoanthropological and Paleolithic artifacts have been discovered (a human bone and bone tools).

In the Bear Passage, about 60 meters from the main corridor, there is a vertical shaft 100 meters deep. Along the shaft, narrow and wide sections alternate, leading to the lower level of the Upper Cerovac Cave, which extends for more than 1,500 meters in a north–south direction. The passages contain both erosional (speleogenic) and accumulation (speleothem) formations. In some of these channels, animal bones, likely belonging to cave bears, have also been found but are yet to be fully studied. The southernmost parts of the lower level are located very close to the surface, on the slope below the entrance to the Lower Cerovac Cave.

Lower Cerovac Cave

The total known and mapped length of the passages in the Lower Cerovac Cave is 4,058 meters, with a total depth of 68 meters and an elevation difference of 97 meters. The tourist path is 608 meters long. The entrance, smaller than that of the Upper Cave, is located at an altitude of 624 m and also faces north. The entrance corridor extends southeast for 160 meters before turning sharply west, continuing as a spacious tunnel approximately 750 meters long.
This passage is illuminated and adapted for tourist visits up to about 600 meters from the entrance, followed by a narrower section, partially widened by excavation, ending with a 23-meter vertical drop. The morphology of the cave changes significantly beyond this point — it becomes a network of corridors and chambers, characterized by much larger dimensions than in the tourist section.

At around 850 meters, the cave splits into two branches:

The northwestern branch contains the main cave bear remains site, the Bear Hall (Medvjeđa dvorana), and the Mammoth Hall (Mamutova dvorana).

The southwestern branch represents the main passage, consisting of the Great Hall (Velika dvorana) and the Cascade Passage (Kanal s kaskadama), ending in a narrow passage. Beyond it lies Pepeonik’s Passage (Pepeonikov kanal), which extends southeast. Near its end, a narrow corridor called Krtiča Passage (Krtičin rov) branches off southward, leading to newly discovered southern sections of the cave.

Numerous vertical shafts, known as chimneys (penjevi), have been explored in many parts of the cave, the tallest reaching 80 meters. The Lower Cerovac Cave is also rich in speleothems such as stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, flowstones, cascades, pisolites (cave pearls), and rare eccentric formations of unusual shapes.