Hiking Trails to Veliki Strbac and Ploce in Serbia Danube Defile

More than 10 years ago I climbed Ciucarul Mare in Romania for the first time, and the view of the Danube Boilers from above has always remained in my memory as one of the most beautiful and spectacular places that nature could create. Since then, I have climbed the same route a couple of times, I also climbed Ciucarul Mic for an equally impressive panorama, but along the way a new challenge was born. I began to wonder how these places would be seen from the other bank of the Danube, from the rocky peaks that rise even higher above the gorge.

I have passed through Serbia several times, but always in transit on the same splendid road along the Danube, passing through breathtaking places, but stopping perhaps only in the parking lots on the bank. This time I had a specific goal, which was to explore some of the more well-known places in the Djerdap National Park, a kind of big brother of our Iron Gates Natural Park. I didn’t manage to visit everything I had planned, as it took 2-3 full days, but that’s another story. The main objective was to climb the route that starts from the Danube Boilers to a few viewpoints located on the Mali Strbac (626 m) and Veliki Strbac (768 m) massifs.

Leaving home at around 6:30 in the morning, at 8 I arrived at the customs in Drobeta Turnu Severin and 10 minutes later I was already in Serbia. I spent a few minutes at the Fetislam fortress in Kladovo and at the ruins of the Roman camp Diana near the Iron Gates I dam, then I turned towards the gorge. After a few more mandatory stops for photos, at 9 o’clock in Serbia I was in the small parking lot arranged in the forest. It is signposted on the road and on Google Maps you can find it as Veliki Strbac polazak, but as a landmark it is 30 kilometers from the border crossing (30 minutes). You enter the forest, where you can park before the barrier, there are about 20-30 parking spaces in the shade. If it is a weekend and the weather is good, it is possible to get crowded after the morning hours.

To visit the Djerdap National Park you have to pay an entrance fee (290 dinars / 3 Euros), which probably allows you to visit any trail during the day. On weekends, after 9 am, there should be a park ranger down or on the trail to buy the ticket, so it would be recommended to have either dinars or the card with you when you leave. After about half an hour of climbing, the park administration car caught up with me and I paid with my phone, finding a signal from Romania. The first part of the trail is common to the two or three final destinations and quite accessible, being done on a road that climbs gently. At a certain point, the trail forks, with the Ploce viewpoint (Vidikovac Ploce) about 10 minutes to the left, while the trail on the right continues towards Veliki Strbac, located much higher up.

Most tourists can reach their first destination in about an hour without much trouble, the route to Vidikovac Ploce being 3 kilometers and a difference in level of +250 meters. Here a wooden platform is arranged for an even better view, and the landscape that opens up to the Romanian shore is breathtaking. You can admire the Cazanele Mari, Ciucarul Mare, Dubovei Bay and even further in all its splendor, and the sunrise here is probably beyond words. Most hikers stop here, but wanting even more, on the way back we also started on the route to Veliki Strbac, which is even higher. Unlike Romania, all the routes here are marked with a white dot on a red background, so a GPS map application would be of great help.

GOOGLE MAPS LOCATIONS: TRAIL START | PLOCE VIEWPOINT | VELIKI STRBAC PEAK

A short distance from the intersection of the trails, you reach a clearing where there are a few buildings, most likely a visitor center or park administration center, but more importantly, this is the only place where you can find water. Here, the trail forks again, to the left going to Mali Strbac, and to the right to Veliki Strbac. It continues through the forest in a constant climb, without any orientation problems or technical difficulties. However, the heat, humidity and lack of training turned the hike into a torture, especially towards the end. From the first fork in the trails to the top of Veliki Strbac, it takes about 2 hours (4 km / +400 meters).

In total, from the departure from the gorge to Veliki Strbac you will walk at least 3 hours (over 7 km / +650 m), including visiting the Ploce point, and if you add the descent, the duration of the entire hike will exceed 5 hours (15 km). The view from Veliki Strbac is truly memorable, but if you don’t have enough time or it’s very hot, I wouldn’t recommend continuing the route here. You’ll see pretty much the same scenery as from the Ploce viewpoint, but from a much higher elevation. If I had to do it again, I’d probably skip the second part of the experience in favor of other interesting places along the gorge, but there’s always next time.

USEFUL ADVICE

Double check that you have turned off mobile data and that your mobile network is selected manually. If you have the network on automatic and do not have a local plan, it is very possible that networks from Serbia will come in, and the costs are quite high.
Install a mobile application with offline maps. I use MAPS.ME, and if you download the map of Serbia or any other destination from home, you will have the possibility of orientation via GPS, including most of the important tourist routes.
Although there are not many bears in this destination, and the probability of encountering them is very small, they still live in the national park, along with lynxes, wolves, wild boars (which I met) and many other wild animals.