Visit Maglić, Bosnia’s highest mountain

Maglić is the highest peak at an elevation of 2,386 metres (7,828 ft) in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located near the border with Montenegro. It is oriented in a northwest-southeast direction.

It lies within the Sutjeska National Park, which was established in 1962. The park is drained by the Sutjeska River, the watershed of the river is partly formed by the canyon parts of Maglić mountain; with Vučevo (1,862 metres (6,109 ft)) and Zelengora (2,014 metres (6,608 ft)) also forming part of the watershed boundary.

Maglić massif consists of two peaks namely, the Veliki Maglić on the Bosnia and Herzegovina side and the Crnogorski Maglić on the Montenegrin side, which is 2 metres higher. The Montenegrin part of Maglić massif has formed the Trnovačko Jezero (Trnovačko Lake), said to be “one of the most beautiful of Montenegro.”

This lake is a glacier lake at an elevation of 1,517 metres, is 700 metres long and 400 metres wide set amidst a “huge amphitheater of rocky peaks”. The lake is drained from the Maglić, the Volujak and the Bioč hill ranges. The lake water has green-blue colour. The headwaters of Sutjeska River are in the canyon parts of Maglić Mountain.

The mountain is bounded by the Sutjeska river on the north and west, by the Volujak mountain on the southwest, by the Drina River and Piva River on the east and by the Mratinjska Uvala valley on the south. It presents a challenging climb.

The rich forests on the mountainside consist of the Perućica forest, a protected reserve within the Sutjeska National Park, which is the oldest and one of the two last remaining primeval forests in Europe. The northwestern slope has thick coniferous and beech trees up to elevation 1,600 metres (5,200 ft), while in the other directions the hill slopes are very steep, barren and rocky.

Mountaineering access to the summit of the Maglić massif is only from the southern side, which has rich vegetation of grass and mountain pine. From the top of the peak, are scenic vistas of Volujak, Bioč, Trnovačko Lake, Durmitor (in Montenegro), apart from the Bosnian mountains in the north and northwestern direction which can be seen.