Gravel KKŽ

Koprivnica-Križevci County is a true gravel cycling paradise. Wooded plains along the Drava river, the almost untouched nature of Kalnik and the rolling, open gravel roads of Bilogora make up a varied landscape criss-crossed by countless good and mostly empty gravel and dirt tracks, as if made for gravel riding. The bicycle is nothing new here: it is part of everyday life, as a means of transport as well as for fun and recreation.

Three landscapes tell three very different gravel stories. The Podravina plains along the wild Drava offer easier rides, from the European Amazon to the Croatian Sahara, through picturesque Podravina villages. Dugo Brdo with the Crna Gora picnic area and the Kalnik hills bring steeper climbs and dense forests, while the slopes of Bilogora offer rolling trails, airy woods and quiet gravel roads far from the sounds of civilisation.

What sets the destination apart is its junction system. Across the whole county, cycling segments have been mapped, recorded digitally and signposted on the ground, linking numbered junctions (crossroads). Pick a start, a finish and any junctions in between, and the Gravel KKŽ route planner web app builds the route for you to download as a GPX file for your navigation device or phone. Every new combination of segments tells the county's gravel story afresh, and the three sample routes are a good place to start.