Plitvice Lakes step down through Croatia's oldest national park in a staircase of sixteen turquoise pools, each one held back by a living travertine dam. Orbit the terraces, tell the Upper Lakes apart from the Lower Lakes, and find Veliki Slap, the tallest waterfall in the park.
Published figures: sixteen named lakes (twelve Upper Lakes plus four Lower Lakes) drop about 133 m from Prosacansko Lake to Novakovica Brod; Kozjak Lake, the largest and deepest, separates the two groups; Veliki Slap plunges 78 m, the tallest waterfall in Croatia.
Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom. Everything renders on your device with WebGL.
Plitvice Lakes 3D Explorer
This browser explorer shows Plitvice Lakes as a stepped cross-section: eight schematic terraces (grouped from the sixteen real named lakes) descending a forested valley, each one held flat by a travertine dam at its upstream edge, ending in one much taller final drop at Veliki Slap.
The park groups its lakes into twelve Upper Lakes, larger basins set in a dolomite valley and ringed by forest, and four Lower Lakes, smaller and set inside a limestone canyon. Kozjak Lake sits at the boundary between the two groups - it is the largest and deepest lake in the park, wide enough that visitors cross it by the park's own ferry rather than a footpath. Water flows downhill from the highest lake, Prosacansko Lake, to the lowest, Novakovica Brod, dropping about 133 m along the way.
What makes the staircase is the travertine (tufa) itself: water rich in dissolved limestone loses carbon dioxide as it tumbles over mosses, algae, and fallen branches, and the calcium carbonate left behind slowly cements into a barrier. These barriers grow roughly 1 to 3 cm a year, so the dams - and the waterfalls that spill over them - keep shifting: an old barrier can collapse and reroute the flow, drying up one fall while a new one appears nearby. The park counts about 90 waterfalls in total, with Veliki Slap (Great Falls) the tallest at 78 m, and Galovacki buk the second-tallest at 25 m in the Upper Lakes.
- Toggle Upper/Lower lake colors to see the two groups and Kozjak Lake at their boundary
- Toggle the Veliki Slap marker at the park's tallest, final drop
- Read the lake count, elevation drop, and waterfall figures in the panel
- See the flat pool terraces step down between travertine dams
- Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
| Figure | Published value |
|---|---|
| Named lakes | 16 - 12 Upper Lakes plus 4 Lower Lakes |
| Elevation drop | about 133 m, Prosacansko Lake to Novakovica Brod |
| Largest / deepest lake | Kozjak Lake - separates the Upper and Lower groups, crossed by park ferry |
| Tallest waterfall | Veliki Slap, 78 m - tallest in the park and in Croatia |
| 2nd-tallest waterfall | Galovacki buk, 25 m, in the Upper Lakes |
| Total waterfalls | about 90 across the park |
| What forms the dams | travertine (tufa) - calcium carbonate building on moss and fallen wood, about 1-3 cm a year |
| Protected area | about 297 sq km; the lakes themselves cover about 2 sq km |
| Protection | established 1949, Croatia's first national park; UNESCO World Heritage since 1979 |
For other lake extremes, open the Lake Baikal 3D Explorer (the world's deepest lake) or, for another dramatic waterfall, the Niagara Falls 3D Explorer.
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached.
This is an educational approximation - the terrace count, widths, and drop sizes are schematic teaching cues, not survey hydrology.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many lakes are in Plitvice Lakes National Park?
Sixteen named lakes, split into twelve larger Upper Lakes and four smaller Lower Lakes.
How much does the water drop from the highest lake to the lowest?
About 133 m, from Prosacansko Lake at the top down to Novakovica Brod at the bottom.
What makes the stepped terraces?
Travertine (tufa) dams - calcium carbonate that precipitates onto moss, algae, and fallen wood, building barriers at roughly 1 to 3 cm a year. Old barriers can collapse and reroute the water, so the terraces keep changing.
Which is the tallest waterfall at Plitvice?
Veliki Slap (Great Falls), at 78 m - the tallest waterfall in the park and in Croatia, near the Lower Lakes. Galovacki buk, at 25 m, is the second-tallest, in the Upper Lakes.
Which lake is the largest?
Kozjak Lake - the largest and deepest lake in the park, and the boundary between the Upper and Lower groups. It is wide enough that visitors cross it by the park's own ferry.
Is this a hydrological simulation?
No. It is an educational explorer using published park and UNESCO figures - the terrace count, widths, and drop sizes are schematic teaching cues.