The highland villages of Bjelašnica and neighbouring Visočica Mountain have long been famous for their folklore, organic food, traditional architecture and lifestyles. Many of these villages were destroyed during the war but have been rebuilt, albeit not in their traditional form. The villages are a last peek into Old World Europe and the traditional ways of life that have long since died out in the West. The village of Lukomir is perhaps the finest example of the highland villages. It is the highest and most isolated permanent settlement in the country at 1,469m (4,500ft). The traditional architecture of the village has been deemed by the Historical Architecture Society of the United Kingdom as one of the last remaining functional villages in all of Europe.

The stone homes with cherry-wood roof shingles mark a practice that can no longer be found on Bjelašnica. The villagers are mainly shepherds who live off the sale of sheep products. Lukomir is known for its traditional attire as well, and the women still wear hand-knitted costume styles that have been worn for centuries. Electricity was recently introduced to the village and running water installation was completed in 2002. Access to the village is impossible from the first snows in December until late April, and sometimes even later, except by skis or on foot.

There is magnificent hiking in the area along the ridge of the Rakitnica Canyon, which drops 800m below. This is the least-explored canyon in southern Europe. It stretches 26km and feeds the Neretva River in Herzegovina near Konjic. Rakitnica is a natural wonderland. Hundreds of thousands of years of tectonic shifts have created the steep limestone walls of Visočica and Bjelašnica mountains. The crystal-clear river below is created by the melting snows and the hundreds of underground aquifer systems, making Rakitnica River water potable for the entire length of the canyon. Thirty-two endemic types of plants, flowers and trees can be found in this tiny region of the Dinaric Alps.