Veliki Zavižan, Mountain summit in Senj, Croatia

Veliki Zavižan is a cone-shaped, rocky and stony summit at 1,676 m in Northern Velebit National Park, rising above the Zavižan basin. Its northern side carries spruce forest, low beech growth and mountain pine, while the coastal side is steep and bare rock. Below about 1,300 m on the seaward slope grows coastal beech forest.

The Zavižan meteorological station began operating on 1 October 1953 and is the highest weather station in Croatia. In 1967 the Croatian botanist Fran Kušan founded a botanical garden in Modrić-dolac at the foot of the peak. The station stands beside the Zavižan mountain lodge and the Zavižan-Balinovac-Velika kosa botanical reserve.

The mountain lodge near the summit is named after Zavižan, the peak above the Zavižanska kotlina. Fran Kušan, a Croatian botanist, founded a botanical garden in Modrić-doc at the foot of the peak in 1967. Near the weather station, specimens of the Velebit endemic Degenia velebitica were planted.

The Zavižan mountain lodge stands in the Zavižanska kotlina basin just below the cone-shaped summit, beside Croatia's highest meteorological station, in operation since 1 October 1953. The climb to the rocky top crosses steep, stony ground on the coastal side, so sturdy footwear and windproof layers matter at this elevation. Snow can linger on the northern slopes, where spruce forest and dwarf pine grow, well into the season.

Just below the summit, by the meteorological station, grow planted specimens of Degenia velebitica, a yellow-flowering plant found only in the Velebit range. Croatian botanist Fran Kušan established a botanical garden in Modrić-dolac at the foot of Zavižan in 1967. The station itself has recorded weather here since 1 October 1953.