3 days in Kolašin: Biogradska gora, Bjelasica and the Morača, in summer and in winter

Biogradska gora is the smallest of the national parks, 5,650 ha declared in 1952 around a 1,600 ha reserve of primeval forest. The turn is 22 km from Kolašin towards Mojkovac at a small bridge; pay at the barrier (EUR 4 per person per day, free under 15) and drive 4 km of asphalt to the car park at Biogradsko jezero, the largest glacial lake of Bjelasica, 0.23 km² at 1,094 m and 12.1 m deep. The loop round the lake is 3.5 km, about an hour (the park gives 3.3 km and 40 minutes); rowing boats and kayaks are hired at the lakeside reception. Then the marked climb to Bendovac, 1,774 m, the viewpoint over the lake: 6.8 km with about 700 m of ascent, 2 h 30 from the lake car park, on foot the whole way: the trail follows the gravel road on the left side of the lake towards the Dolovi Lalevića katun and leaves it at the first hut, where a path climbs right to the viewpoint; the katun itself is day 2's stop. The viewpoint's coordinates on the map are approximate. The park's six marked trails lead on to Crna glava, Troglava, Zekova glava and the higher lakes, without published lengths.

Dolovi Lalevića is a katun, a summer shepherd settlement, on a small plateau between two hills at 1,685 m on Bjelasica, reached by 7 km of macadam road that starts at the lake car park and continues to Zekova glava and the other katuns; no approach from Mojkovac or Berane is published. Several families sell milk, cheese, kajmak and meat in the season when they are there (no dates are published), there is a rest shelter, and the katun is one of only two Montenegrin sites of Lakušić's carnation, so keep to the road and the paths. For Crna glava, 2,137 m in the official survey table, the only published route starts at the Vranjak katun above the ski centres: 7 km with 339 m of ascent, about 2 h 15, graded easy to medium; no official route from Dolovi Lalevića to the summit is published, so either drive round to Vranjak for the top or walk the katun's own trails, towards Pešića jezero along the ridge. The Kolašin 1600 chairlift runs in summer: the operator presents the resort as open all year, the K8 six-seat chairlift to 2,035 m runs 09:00-19:00 with the restaurant and café, summer activities are listed (hiking, biking, horse riding, jeep safari, quads and tubing), and the 2026 summer season opened on 7 June with free rides that day. No summer ride price or closing date is published; the operator's winter list gives a single ride at EUR 8 for adults and EUR 5 for children, and parking was EUR 7 a day on the same list. The resort is 12 km from the town but more than an hour by road from the katun, so take the ride first thing or at the end of the day, not between the two.

Down the main Podgorica road, not the motorway. Morača Monastery stands on the river bank 25 km from Kolašin, built in 1252 by Stefan Vukanović, grandson of Stefan Nemanja: the Church of the Dormition in the Raška style with a Romanesque portal, the smaller Church of St Nicholas, the konak, and the 13th-century fresco of the raven feeding the Prophet Elijah; it is active and publishes no hours, fee or dress code. The Morača canyon the road follows is 30 km long and up to 1,000 m deep. At Međuriječje, about 30 km from Kolašin on the old road, a signed turn leads to the car park for the Mrtvica canyon trail: 6.6 km one way to the spot called Plaža, about 2 hours each way, graded easy, past the stone bridge of 1858 at Zeleni vir and the Gate of Wishes, listed by the tourist organisation for spring to autumn. The Mrtvica runs through a canyon about 10 km long and 1,250 m deep, with trout fishing from May to October. Allow the whole afternoon for the walk and the drive back up the canyon.

With a fourth day: south of Bjelasica, beyond the Trešnjevik pass at 1,573 m on the old Andrijevica road (narrow and winding by the tourism organisation's description; 18.3 km from Andrijevica, the last 8 km in eight hairpins), lie the three rock summits of Komovi, a nature park shared by Andrijevica, Kolašin and Podgorica. The marked Komovi loop from the Štavna plateau at 1,764 m is 18.8 km with about 750 m of climbing and 6 h 30 of walking without a summit; Kom Kučki, 2,487 m, is 7 km from Štavna with 723 m of ascent and an exposed ridge at the end. Check the road conditions before you set off. The other fourth day is Plav Lake, the largest glacial lake in Montenegro at 906 m below Prokletije, a longer drive east.

Kolašin 1600 is the state resort on Bjelasica, 12 km from the town, opened on 16 February 2019 and run by Skijališta Crne Gore. The K8 Troglava chairlift, a six-seat detachable with heated seats, rises to 2,035 m; an 800 m T-bar, a 400 m platter lift and a magic carpet were added for 2024/25. Piste figures differ by source: about 21 km by the operator, 8 pistes and 10.5 km on the K8 side by the NTO. The K7 Klisura chairlift, which links the resort with Kolašin 1450 and its 9 km of pistes, has been out of service since 2024; the ministry expects it back for 2026/27, though the repair tender was reported cancelled in December 2025. There is no snowmaking or night skiing yet. The base has rental (ski set EUR 15 a day), a ski school, the Troglava restaurant and a café; parking is EUR 7 a day and a daily bus runs from the centre of Kolašin. Day pass EUR 25 adult, EUR 16.50 child; the 2025/26 season opened with an event on 12-14 December and ran into early April. Mountain rescue: +382 67 00 1600.

Kolašin 1450 is the privately owned resort with its base at Jezerine, 1,450 m, 9 km from the town by the NTO and 12 km by the tourist board: the Viline Vode six-seat chairlift, the Ćupovi chairlift, the reconstructed Jezerine and Ključ surface lifts and a baby lift, with top stations at about 1,840 to 1,900 m and blue, red and black pistes whose total length is given as anything from 17 km to 30 km depending on the source. Day pass EUR 15 adult and EUR 12 child, with instructors for beginners and a restaurant at the base. For the afternoon, or the whole day for non-skiers, Bjelasica is one of the two massifs the NTO recommends for snowshoeing and ski touring from December to March, the other being Sinjajevina; the Kolašin tourist organisation lists snowshoeing, Nordic skiing, ski touring and snowmobiles among its winter activities without naming trails, and offers guided night hikes near the ski centres with equipment rental. The Vranjak katun above the resorts is the summer trailhead for Zekova glava and Crna glava; no marked winter route is published, so go with a guide. Sinjajevina, the 40 km pasture plateau between Kolašin and Šavnik, hosts a Nordic skiing marathon with no published date; no winter trailhead is published.

The quiet day of the winter plan, and the one for bad weather on the mountain. Morača Monastery, 25 km down the main Podgorica road, is active all year and publishes no hours, so go in daylight and dress as for any place of worship: the 1252 church in the Raška style, the Elijah fresco, the smaller Church of St Nicholas and the konak. The road itself is the reason for the drive in winter: the Morača canyon, 30 km long and up to 1,000 m deep, is the all-year main road between Kolašin and Podgorica; it can close, so check the road conditions page with the day's AMSCG report before setting off, and the tolled motorway is the alternative. Winter tyres are compulsory in winter conditions from 15 November to 1 April. The Mrtvica trail of the summer plan is a spring-to-autumn walk and is not part of the winter plan. Back in the town by mid-afternoon; in January the town holds the Kolašin Winter Art guitar festival.