Libeliče - Šteknetov vrh (via Trotov križ)

Access to starting point:
A) From Slovenj Gradec or the Mežiška valley we drive to Dravograd, then still before the bridge over the Drava River we turn left in the direction of the settlements Črneče and Libeliče. Further on, we first cross the Meža River, then we drive through Črneče and later also through Gorče. After Gorče we arrive in Libeliče, where at the chapel we continue right, then we go right again and park on a larger asphalt parking lot by the Libeliče fire station.
B) We drive to Dravograd, then we continue driving towards Slovenj Gradec. Soon after the bridge over the Drava River, we turn right in the direction of the settlements Črneče and Libeliče. Further on, we first cross the Meža River, then we drive through Črneče and later also through Gorče. After Gorče we arrive in Libeliče, where at the chapel we continue right, then we go right again and park on a larger asphalt parking lot by the Libeliče fire station.
C) Via the border crossings Ljubelj or Jezerski vrh we drive to Austria, then we follow the signs for Pliberk / Bleiburg and further to the settlement Labot / Lavamünd. Before the settlement Labot, still before we cross the Drava River, the signs for Potoče / Bach and Libeliče / Leifling direct us right onto a somewhat narrower road. Further on, we drive through the settlement Potoče, and behind it soon via the border crossing Libeliče we arrive in Slovenia, where we park on the parking lot by the fire station in Libeliče.

Path description:
From the fire station we first ascend to the parish church of St. Martin, which is located on the northwestern part of Libeliče. Before the church, on the part where the ossuary from the 11th century is located, before the wall on the left we notice a beaten path, on which we diagonally ascend into the forest.
During the ascent through the forest we are initially accompanied by signs of the nearby path Etnološko naravoslovne znamenitosti Libelič, which we follow in the opposite direction, so the numbers on the signs decrease. Through the forest we mostly ascend on forest tracks, higher up along the pear tree avenue we ascend to the homestead, where there is a viewpoint.
We continue across the yard, from the junction behind the homestead we continue on the right road, which leads us past a sign. A diagonal ascent follows with nice views reaching from Golica / Koralpe across Košenjak to Pohorje, then the cart track takes us into the forest, where we reach the macadam road. We follow the road to the right, after the left serpentine we leave it and continue slightly right on the cart track, which brings us past the hunting observatory to a larger clearing. On the other side of the clearing we return to the forest, the path then brings us to the state border with Austria. Along the state border we ascend to the place where the state border turns sharply right, while we ascend on the trail running across the hay meadow to the next homestead, which we bypass on the left side and at which, at the next sign, we cross another road. With nice views we ascend to the forest. In the forest the cart track forks, we choose the left, gentler cart track, which further in a gentle ascent crosses the eastern slopes of Požegov vrh. During the crossing the path leads us past an older cross and across a smaller spring, then we soon reach the macadam road, which we reach at the junction to the Jorgač farm.
We follow the road to the right, on it we diagonally ascend to a somewhat larger junction at the NOB monument, where we continue straight towards Ravne na Koroškem (right Strojna). The path ahead leads us past Trotov križ (triangular chapel with saints depicted on frescoes), still before we step out of the forest a road branches sharply right towards the Utek farm (on maps Vutek). We continue straight, at the junction in the middle of the meadow we go slightly right. A short walk follows with nice views of Peca, then at the entrance into the forest the path forks again. This time we choose the slightly left road in the direction of the Strojna hunting hut (slightly right Ravne). Further on the road enters the forest, above the Trot homestead a nice view of the peaks above the Mežiška valley opens up again. The path ahead leads us along a gentle macadam road crossing the slopes of Trotov vrh, on the road we walk to the right bend, where at the beginning of an indistinct small valley a cart track branches left, on which through the forest we ascend to Trotovo razpotje, where we choose the right path. A few minutes of ascent follow, when the path levels out we reach the western forepeak of Šteknetov vrh. A slight descent follows and then a gentle ascent to the 1061-meter-high peak.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in 2019 (February).

On the way: Trotov križ (863m), Trotovo razpotje (972m)