When the Risnjak massif was proclaimed a national park back in 1953, it was an event of great importance for the entire Gorski kotar. The credit for that belongs primarily to Dr. Ivo Horvat, a scientist whose works and argumentation focused on the numerous outstanding natural phenomena found on Risnjak including geological and geomorphologic forms, numerous sorts of vegetation, climatic and pedological phenomena.

Access:
The management of the Risnjak National Park is seated in Bijela Vodica, a village near Crni Lug. This is also the main entrance to the National Park. Alternatively, the climb to Risnjak can begin at Vilje, i.e. Gornje Jelenje pass, or in the Kupa valley (Hrvatsko entrance to the north), at the Kupari reception centre.
Places of interest:
Besides the educational Štahan's trail in Leska, which is easily accessed from Crni Lug and is unique in the whole of Croatia, one should definitely see the spring of the Kupa river. It has been proclaimed a nature monument for its hydro-geomorphologic characteristics. At an elevation of 313 m, it can be approached from the small village of Razloge (554 m). From there a well marked yet steep and winding path leads down to the spring. Another way leads from the Kupa valley, from the village of Hrvatsko (296 m). While much less steep and easier, the latter way is also considerably longer. Rising from beneath the vertical rocks, the Kupa forms, at its spring, a small karst lake, which is a lovely turquoise colour and is called Kupeško jezero (lake). It is 200 m long, with an average width of 30 m, while the very great depth is still under exploring. The highest peak on Risnjak is Veliki Risnjak (1,528 m). On the foot of it, on Schlosserova livada, is a mountain lodge (Schlosserov dom).
Borders:
The Risnjak National Park today covers an area of 6,400 hectares. Since the expansion (in 1998), the spring of the Kupa river has been part of the National Park, as well as the nearby mountain Snježnik (1,506 m). There is also a mountain lodge on Snježnik. On clear and sunny days, the tops of Risnjak and Snježnik offer magnificent views of the Adriatic and the Slovenian Alps, probably the most beautiful in the whole of Croatia.
Following the extension of its borders, the Risnjak National Park now includes Leska, a village no longer inhabited, then the villages of Okrug (Gornji, Donji and Razloški), Biljevina, Razloge, Kupare, Gornja and Srednja Krašićevica, and the deserted Plajzi. One should only hope that the opportunities for sustainable development of tourism offering themselves within the present boundaries of the National Park will save some of those villages and the families living there from dying out.