The Gacka is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

located in the

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

region of central

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Because for a large part of its course it is a

subterranean river A subterranean river (also known as an underground river) is a river or watercourse that runs wholly or partly beneath the ground, one where the riverbed does not represent the surface of the Earth. It is distinct from an aquifer, which may flow ...

, estimates of its length vary. The aboveground part has undergone substantial human intervention – before it was long; now it is only long.

Lika-Senj County Lika-Senj County (, ) is a county in Croatia that includes most of the Lika region and some northern coastline of the Adriatic near the town of Senj, including the northern part of the Pag island. Its center is Gospić. The county is the leas ...

Tourist Board, It has been regulated by man to flow into an aqueduct in Gusić polje (known as Tunel Gacka-Gusić Jezero) and then into the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

through the hydroelectric installation ''HE Senj'' near Sveti Juraj. Built in 1965, HE Senj takes inflow from both the Gacka and

rivers. The river passes through

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

fields and most notably the town of Otočac, and its headwaters are known as a popular locale for

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fishing.‘Trout Fishing in Yugoslavia Plumbs the Depths of Emotion’
nytimes.com MARCH 5, 1972

References

Rivers of Croatia {{Croatia-river-stub

See also

References