the road less traveled

The Una River, on the border between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2024

We were in Croatia, driving from the coastal city of Split to Plitvice Lakes National Park to the north. We had decided that on the way we would go into Bosnia-Herzegovina for a few hours to visit Una National Park. At that point, the border between the countries is the Una River and the national park is solely in Bosnia. We most wanted to see the waterfalls near Martin Brod because the photos we’d seen online looked spectacular.

We were relying solely on Google Maps, which luckily we had downloaded because our cell service was iffy, and along the way, we saw occasional road signs that confirmed we were headed in the correct direction.

Before we crossed the border into Bosnia, we saw a small road sign that said simply “UNA.” This was not the route we had seen on Maps, but we figured the sign was there for a reason, so we turned right.

The road was small. And rural. And got smaller and more rural as we went. After a couple of miles, the road changed to gravel, then to something only marginally better than dirt, and narrowed to a smidge wider than one lane. We passed farms and fields. We saw various types of livestock. We did not see businesses or traffic or any indication that we were nearing a national park.

We carefully turned a tight corner and there, in the middle of nowhere, were two police cars. Two officers stepped into the road. We stopped and rolled down our windows.

One man said something to us in Bosnian.

Remember we only knew about five words of Bosnian.

My husband and I looked at each other, then back at the two officers.

A moment passed.

One of the officers said in English, “Where you going?”

We said, “Una.”

One of the officers asked, “Una?”

“Yes, Una, the national park.”

“You go to Bihac.”

“Martin Brod?”

The two officers looked at each other, then back at us.

One said, “No no no no.”

A pause, then, “You go back way you come. Turn that way [gesturing to the right]. Go to border, then go to Bihac, then Martin Brod. Understand?”

We repeated what he had told us and he nodded with satisfaction that the ignorant tourists probably wouldn’t get lost again. Probably, but not definitely. We said hvala ti (thank you in Bosnian) and carefully turned around.

As my husband drove carefully down the rough road, I quickly added notes to my phone about the conversation we’d just had because I knew I’d be sharing this here.

Not long after that, we saw another large sign that directed us to an overlook to see the falls. We took that road and did in fact get our first look at the river and just one of the many waterfalls in the park. After that, we crossed the border into Bosnia and drove into the park, where we hiked and took many photos. Then it was back into Croatia to continue to Plitvice.

That evening, after looking at maps and talking through the events of the day, we’re still not sure why two police officers were stationed on a tiny road in the middle of nowhere. Our current theory is that there was no border crossing at the part of the river where we were headed, but that there was a bridge that locals could use to go back and forth, so the officers were stationed there to turn people back. Either that, or they were there to stop some sort of illegal activities (smuggling? drugs?).

Anyway, both Una and Plitvice national parks are gorgeous and if you ever have the opportunity to visit, you totally should. Just make sure you have good maps and know where you’re going.