Tara National Park encompasses nearly 25,000 hectares of mountain and canyon landscape in western Serbia — dense coniferous forest, the Drina River canyon (described by local tourism as the third largest in the world after the Grand Canyon and the Tara river canyon in Montenegro) and a landscape that has been visited, settled and abandoned across five millennia. The park's mixed forests shelter medieval monastery ruins, 20th-century tourist infrastructure left derelict after Yugoslavia's collapse and the specific atmosphere of mountain abandonment: pine forests encroaching on stone walls, mist over the Drina canyon at dawn, Yugoslav-era ski lodges decaying against the spruce. Discover the 5 best abandoned places in Tara National Park, selected from our Serbia Urbex Map — 200+ verified GPS locations across Serbia.
Why Tara National Park Is Serbia's Most Atmospherically Unique Urbex Destination
Tara combines two urbex typologies unavailable anywhere else in Serbia simultaneously — medieval religious heritage in deep forest settings and Yugoslav-era tourist infrastructure abandoned when the workers' holiday economy collapsed after 1991. The result is a national park where a 13th-century monastery and a derelict 1970s ski lodge occupy the same forested mountain landscape, separated by barely a kilometre of spruce forest.
1. Rača Monastery (Historical Context) – Tara National Park, Forest Setting — 13th-Century Endowment of King Dragutin, Medieval Literacy Centre, Hiding Place of Miroslav's Gospel in WWII (Known Location)
Nestled in the forested Rača canyon within Tara National Park, the Rača Monastery was founded in the 13th century as an endowment of Serbian King Dragutin — and became one of the most important centres of Serbian medieval literacy. The Serbian tourism authority documents an extraordinary WWII moment: "during World War II, the altar of this church served as a hiding place for the oldest Serbian book — Miroslav's Gospel, written in the 12th Century." While the monastery retains active religious use today, its surrounding forest landscape, the abandoned ecclesiastical outbuildings and the canyon setting create a heritage atmosphere of extraordinary depth. The Rača hiking trail within the park leads directly to it through dense coniferous forest.
🔗 Source: Serbia Tourism – Tara National Park & Rača Monastery
2. Derelict Yugoslav-Era Mountain Hotel – Tara or Zvijezda Range — 1960s–70s Workers' Holiday Infrastructure, Communist-Era Architecture, Pine Forest Setting, Post-1991 Closure (Known Location)
Originally built as part of the Yugoslav workers' holiday system — when the self-management economy provided state-subsidised mountain breaks for ordinary citizens — several hotels and rest houses in the Tara and Zvijezda mountain ranges stand in progressive abandonment following the collapse of the subsidy system after 1991. The Kaluđerske Bare area at the heart of the park was the original centre of Yugoslav mountain tourism on Tara: the site where tourism began on this mountain when a writer stayed at monastery mansions near the current Hotel Omorika a century ago. The derelict lodge buildings of the post-WWII tourist expansion decay against the Serbian spruce forest — the endemic and relic conifer that survived the last ice age.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Serbia →
3. Borovo Brdo WWII Memorial Site – Tara National Park — Partisan Battle Site, Yugoslav Monument, Forest Setting, Partially Overgrown
Within Tara National Park, the "Borovo brdo" World War II memorial site commemorates the Partisan battles fought on Tara during the German occupation. The Serbian tourism authority specifically flags it as a site for "those more interested in recent history" within the park. Yugoslav memorial sculptures and plaques in the forest setting — maintained at varying levels, some in the overgrown, partially abandoned state typical of Yugoslavia's most remote memorial sites — create a specific Tara experience: the intersection of dense mountain forest and the specific weight of Partisan memory. GPS in our Serbia Urbex Map.
4. Abandoned Agricultural Settlement – Tara Park Periphery — Pre-War Stone Farmsteads, Forest Encroachment, Traditional Vernacular Architecture (Off the Radar — Our Map Only)
On the periphery of Tara National Park — where the protected mountain landscape meets the depopulated villages of western Serbia — stone farmsteads built in the traditional vernacular architecture of the Drina region stand in various states of forest encroachment and structural decay. The specific quality of this abandonment is the slow reclamation by the forest: the Serbian spruce, pine and beech of Tara's extraordinary mixed woodland gradually consuming the stone construction of farmsteads whose agricultural communities emigrated to Belgrade or Western Europe in the second half of the 20th century. GPS in our Serbia Urbex Map.
5. Perućac Lake Inundated Village – Tara Park, Drina River — Village Submerged When Perućac Dam Was Built 1966, Structures Visible at Low Water Level (Exclusively on Our Map)
When the Perućac Dam was built on the Drina in 1966, the rising waters of the new lake submerged several villages in the canyon below Tara. At low water levels — typically in late summer and autumn — the submerged village infrastructure becomes visible: stone walls, foundation outlines and the specific ghostliness of inundated architecture emerging from the lake. The Drina canyon setting, with Tara's forested slopes rising above the emerald green water of Perućac Lake, provides an extraordinary backdrop to what is one of the most unusual abandoned place experiences in Serbia — a drowned village made partially visible by the water level cycle. GPS exclusively in our Serbia Urbex Map.
❓ FAQ
What are the best abandoned places in Tara National Park?
Rača Monastery's surrounding heritage landscape and outbuildings, the derelict Yugoslav-era mountain hotel infrastructure near Kaluđerske Bare, the WWII memorial site at Borovo brdo and — uniquely — the submerged village visible in Perućac Lake at low water levels in late summer and autumn. Our Serbia Urbex Map includes all sites with seasonal access notes.
Is Tara National Park good for urbex?
Yes — Tara is uniquely different from Serbia's urban urbex landscape. The combination of medieval monastery heritage, Yugoslav-era mountain hotel ruins, WWII Partisan memorial sites, abandoned farmsteads and the submerged Drina canyon village creates a variety of abandonment typologies available nowhere else in Serbia — all within a single national park of extraordinary natural beauty.
When is the best time to visit Tara National Park for urbex?
Autumn (September–October) for the best light and lowest vegetation. For the Perućac Lake submerged village, late summer (August–September) when water levels are typically lowest. Spring (April–May) for the monastery forest setting before full leaf cover. Winter access to the park's mountain roads can be challenging — check road conditions before setting out.
Safety Tips
- National park rules: camping is not permitted within Tara National Park — plan accommodation in Bajina Bašta or the Kaluđerske Bare park facilities
- Mountain roads: some access roads within and around the park require 4WD in wet conditions — our map includes road condition notes for all rural sites
- Wildlife: Tara has Serbia's largest black bear population — standard mountain wildlife awareness applies; don't approach or provoke
- Never explore alone — mobile coverage is patchy in the canyon zones; always inform someone of your route
The urbex code: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
🎯 Summary
Tara National Park holds Serbia's most atmospherically unique abandoned landscape — a 13th-century monastery in deep canyon forest, derelict Yugoslav mountain hotels against endemic spruce, a drowned Drina canyon village and WWII Partisan memorials in the mountain woodland. No other national park in Serbia concentrates so many distinct types of abandonment in so beautiful a natural setting. Find all sites in our Serbia Urbex Map.
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