Hiking Tolsti Vrh and Kriska Gora in Slovenia

Reaching the starting point at Zavetisce v Gozdu

This hike starts at Zavetisce v Gozdu mountain cabin which is just a few hundred meters away from a small village called Gozd. The best way to reach Zavetisce v Gozdu is to head towards Kranj on the Slovenian E61 highway which connects Slovenia with Austria in the north and Italy in the south. Then you should take the Kranj zahod exit and follow direction signs for Golnik. After driving on a good local road for approximately 8 kilometers, you’ll reach Golnik. In Golnik continue through the town and follow the direction signs for Trzic. After driving for a few kilometers, you’ll come across a road on the right, accompanied by a directions sign indicating the way to Gozd village. This road can be easily overlooked, so it’s important to remain attentive after Golnik. Take the right road here and continue for approximately 3 kilometers until you arrive at Zavetisce v Gozdu. There you can park your car free of charge. The roads to the starting point are in good condition (asphalt). The last stretch is a bit narrow but not terribly so.

Now, reaching Zavetisce v Gozdu by public transport is quite difficult but not impossible. The bus only drives to Golnik. So, if you do decide to take public transport, you’ll have to hike up to Zavetisce v Gozdu. There is a hiking trail going from Golnik to Zavetisce v Gozdu (see here). However, this stretch will prolong your hike for an hour each way and add four kilometers to the already quite long total distance of 10 kilometers. You can buy bus tickets and check timetables for buses here.

Trail Description

From the parking place, you should head towards the Gozd village in the direction of east on the same road as you took to reach the parking place. In a few minutes the asphalt road will turn into a gravel road, and soon after that you’ll reach the village. There is a big church at the beginning of the village. Follow the road through the village and shortly you’ll come to a red direction sign, indicating hiking trails. Here you should go left in the direction of Kriska Gora and Tolsti Vrh. Soon after that, you’ll come across another direction sign which indicates that both the left path and the right path go to Tolsti Vrh. This is not a mistake, as there are indeed two distinct trails leading to the mountain. The eastern trail is a bit shorter than the western trail. I decided to take the eastern trail here by going right.

The goes through dense woods in the direction of east. It’s relatively steep and thus some caution is required. When you reach the altitude of 1500 meters the trail turns towards north and the vegetation becomes sparser. I can imagine you can get a really good view towards the south here. However, when I did this hike, it was completely foggy as you can see on the images. Therefore, I could barely see 10 meters in front of me. From here on, you only have 10 minutes of hiking left to reach the top. At the top you should also get a nice view towards the north and higher mountains in the Karawanks mountain range. When I reached the top, the fog persisted, and once again I was left without a nice view.

From Tolsti Vrh you then hike in the direction of west towards Kriska Gora mountain cabin. The trail runs along the ridge and should offer a splendid view both to the south and the north. After hiking for approximately 2.6 kilometers on this trail that is gently descending, you’ll reach the Kriska Gora mountain cabin. There you can buy drinks and warm meals from locally produced goods. The hut wasn’t opened yet in May. Typically, it’s opened from June to September, but you can get more precise opening times here.

To descend back to the starting point, follow the direction signs for Gozd. The trail descends rapidly towards the south and after an hour’s hike or so, you’re back in the village. You’ll also have a nice view towards the south while you’re descending. By the time I was halfway down, the weather cleared out and I was surprised what a nice view I got towards the south.

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