Tara River Canyon

The Tara River Canyon (Montenegrin: "Kanjon Tare"), also known as the "Tara River Gorge", is the longest canyon in Montenegro and Europe and the second-longest in the world. It is 82 kilometers long and is 1,300 meters at its deepest. The canyon is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a part of Durmitor national park. The Tara River cuts through the canyon.

There are rocky and pebbly terraces, sandy beaches, high cliffs, and more than 80 large caves along the canyon.

The canyon is part of the Tara River rafting route. The one day rafting route, from Brstnovica to Sćepan Polje is 18km long and it takes 2 to 3 hours. This part of the canyon is the most exciting because the river has the biggest drop in elevation in the shortest length. There are 21 out of 50 rapids in this part of the Tara. The rapids are Brstanovići, Pećine, the very dangerous Celije rapids and Vjernovički rapids.

The Bosnian and the Montenegrin government had plans to flood the Tara Gorge, with the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the Drina River. However, it abandoned this plan in April, 2005 after several successful protests of advocates for the preservation of the canyon. But, in September 2006, a protocol for cooperation between Slovenian company "Petrol" and Montenegrin company "Montenegro-bonus" was signed, and the building of an electric plant with initial power of 40 or 60 megawatts is planned, despite all efforts to protect the gorge.