For tour of the spring and the upper part of the Tounjčica river you have to come to the town Tounj, precisely on the old bridge which crosses Tounjčica and where the road Zagreb-Senj goes. From here you can come above the spring of Tounjčica by a macadam road, and part of its lower flow can be seen by foot on the top of the canyon. Access to the middle part of the flow is possible if you turn to Kukača. When you reach the village Kamenice you have to turn on the macadam road, toward the north, where you get to the village Ožanići. To the mouth of Tounjčica in Mrežnica you can come in the way we described above.

Tourism and aspects of development

Mrežnica and Tounjčica

Mrežnica is certainly wort every moment spent on the river and some part of it can't be cut out as the most beautiful, especially if we talk about the part from the spring to Duga Resa. It is actually incredible that the river Mrežnica, concerning good traffic connections (Zagreb-Karlovac highway, modernized "Josephine" road) and the fact that it is relatively close to Zagreb, is not a major destination for many visitors. A part of Mrežnica can be seen from the car and train, but for the rest of it you have to do better. Quality hotel accomodation can be easily found, on the area of Mrežnica and Tounjčica, in Duga Resa and Josipdol. Inns and restaurants are mostly found on the road Zagreb-Senj. They offer a variety of goods, but mostly not from this area (Tounj cheese, river fish). Some of these objects offer recreation like tennis, canu rides etc.

Reconstruction of odl mills would surely be a good tourist investment. Reconstructed mills could, not only as museum artifacts, but by its production fill the menus of many restaurants with a variety of domestic, homemade baked goods.

Classical tourism, which is here tied to the roads and tourists "passing by" should be extended on to country tourism. Such a shape of tourism can offer "family" accomodation" in original wooden houses, plus trips to the rivers and their surrounding.

There are more and more agencies who are trying to sell all kinds of rafting and canu arrangments on Mrežnica. But Mrežnica is definitely not a river for rafting because of its lake-like character and slow flow. Rafting down the falls, especially when the water is low, comes down to having skippers come out of boats full of tourists, and push it over the fall, leaving large brown spots behind, as a consequence of tearing travertine of the fall. Therefore prefix ECO which many agencies use as propaganda for their programmes, isn't really appropriate. Mrežnica is not a river which will offer its visitor unforgettable rafting adventures, it's a quiet river which offers its beauty and preservation. For "Adrenaline" experiences of rafting you should turn to Dobra, Kupa and Cetina. Trips with canus could be the basic shape of tourism for this river, but only after passages across falls and camping spots are built.

Although it does not have the potential like the river Gacka or Vransko jezero, sporting and fishing on the river Mrežnica could be developed muce better. Along withj it the entire management of these rivers would be improved (fishing, less poaching, more fish).

Alpine tourism in the vicinity of rivers Mrežnica and Tounjčica is not significant, but its mostly oriented on the Ogulin area (Klek, Bjelolasica).

There are no speleologic tourist objects in this area, but you can certainly try during the summer when the water level is low, without special equipment, only with a flashlight, to see the spring of Tounjčica. There are more interesting locations near by, but seeing them is possible only with gear (the cave in Tounj quarry, Mijat pit).

Like with Zrmanja and Krupa, here we have a lack of organization which could ecologically manage this river and the area, and the best thing would be if it was done by the Public institution Natural Park, which is not far away.

The area of rivers Mrežnica and Tounjčica is convenient from the aspect of traffic connections. But first of all be warned on the spring part of Mrežnica (cca 13 km from the spring) which is encompassed with the military installation "Eugen Kvaternik" and access to the spring and this part of the river is strictly forbidden.
For tours of Mrežnica and Tounjčica it is best to use the road Zagreb-Senj, the so called Josephine road. From this road there are many roads which go close to Mrežnica and Tounjčica.
In the upper flow of Mrežnica, which isn't in the military installation, you can come by if you turn from the road Zagreb-Senj, after the town Tounj, to Kukača. This road brings you to Tounjski Tržić where there is a new bridge across Mrežnica. If you continue further on across the bridge you can reach Primišlje or Slunj.
For the middle part of the flow you can turn from the "old Josephine" at Generalski Stol from where a road takes you to the bridge Mrežnica in Keići. From here, if you cross the bridge to Perjasica, you can turn south before Perjasica and reach the junction of Mrežnica and Tounjčica, and the village Mrežnica. In Gornji Zvečaj, in the middle part of the river, there is a turn to village Puškarići where you can also reach Mrežnica, and a little further on in Zvečaj the road leads you to the pontoon bridge on Mrežnica, toward Gornje Bukovlje.
The road from Zvečaj to Duga Resa follows the flow of Mrežnica all the way, so the river is easily accessible. When you reach Belavići you have to turn on the old road, and after crossing the railroad tracks cross the old wooden bridge which leads from Belavići to Mrežnički Brig.
From Duga Resa to Mrzlo Polje the road also goes along the river, and the mouth of Mrežnica into Korana can be seen not far from the bridge in Turanj.
The access to the river from this west side is pretty simple for the visitors which travel by train, because the railroad track Zagreb-Oštarije goes almost horizontally with the modernized Josephine road, and the local railroad line stops in almost all the towns in the vicinity of Mrežnica.
There is also a road which goes along the eastern side of the river from Turanj across Barilovići and Siće to Pejasica and then across Poloj and Primišlje, but this road is in a much worse condition, and most part of it is macadam, so we recommend the western option.