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Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst

alyas25. 10. 2016 18:18:27

On a beautiful autumn day, cycling through the Comen Karst and across the ridge of the so-called Black Hills will conjure up a wonderful experience of autumn colors, moderate and not too difficult climbs, beautiful views, plus some cultural and culinary offerings, so such a trip can reliably end with "all inclusive" experiences and feelings.
For the starting point, you can take either Štanjel or Komen, then towards Kostanjevica, even the main inter-village roads in these areas aren't particularly busy, on a nice sunny last Saturday we saw mostly road cyclists from the Trieste end on them. For the uphill, we chose an interesting field/forest path from Opatje selo to Lokvica and then past young olive groves towards Cerje, the monument on it dedicated to the Defenders of Slovenian land is so large and prominent that you see it from afar. Continuing - more narrowly along the ridge runs the Peace Trail on the Karst (hills like: Fajti hrib, Veliki vrh, Renški vrh, Vrtovka, Stolovec), a bit lower (at the ramp) a nice macadam cart track branches off, which goes a bit on the southern side, a bit on the northern side all the way to Trstelj (643m) and on average steadily climbs a little throughout. In between we ride a short asphalt section of the road that connects Renče and Temenica across the Hribov ridge, each on its side. On the forest road from Cerje to Trstelj there are no orientation issues, nor any nasty climbs, the biggest is right at the end of the path before Trstelj, which is consequently followed by a nice and somewhat longer descent. Under Stjenkova hut, the asphalt base also helps on the last ascent, from there to the panoramic summit where there's a telecom tower, there's a short very rocky and stony path section, so it's pretty hard to ride up.
On the descent down, we repeat a short section under the mountain hut, then asphalt road takes us towards Temnica village, from there you have several options how to continue to the start. We for example visited some lesser-known villages on this side like: Lipa, Šibelji, Škrbina, Rubije, Sveto. If starting from Komen, you get about 50 km on the counter, from Štanjel another cca 20 km more.

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Cycling starts either from Štanjel or from Komen

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Through Kostanjevica on the Karst

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Autumn colors on all sides along the road

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Opatje selo, right after the church we look for the gravel path and past ind.cone we go to Lokvica

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Field track to Lokvica, at the top of the ridge the huge monument on Cerje is visible

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst In these areas there are many points of interest related to WWI

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst They taught me that the monument is officially called Pomnik braniteljem slovenske zemlje na Cerju

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst View and panorama to the south - towards the sea

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Monument at Cerje, designed in several storeys in the shape of a fortress

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Views of Goriška and to the north were poorer due to cloudiness

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst We continue on more or less reinforced cart tracks and forest paths towards Trstelj

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Such golden yellow and red shades were plentiful along the path

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Comfortable and nicely traceable cycling path runs a bit on the left and a bit on the right side of the ridge

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst In between we join a shorter asphalt section of the road that connects Renče and Temnica over the hill

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Then again through a nice forest section

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst A bit before Trstelj there is also some steeper section of the road

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst ... and also a nice descent

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Already at Stjenkova hut below Trstelj

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst At the top, Trstelj is the highest hill in the ridge of the so-called Black Hills

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Views from the top to the south reach all the way to the sea

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Small detour or extension on the way to the village Temnica

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst ... then through the village Lipa

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst ... through the village Škrbina

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst ... another view back at Trstelj

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst ... another bend off the main road - through Rubije

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst ... through the village Sveto

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst Past numerous vineyards back towards Komn

Cerje - Trstelj - circular route through Comen Karst ... this part of the path along the road repeats.

(+1)

enatam27. 10. 2016 08:48:34

Just a correction: the village Temenica is mentioned incorrectly several times (in the descriptive part and also at the picture)... the correct village name is Temnica

(+4)

turbo6. 10. 2021 17:35:52

Saturday, 2.10.2021

I visited similar ends by bike, so it would be a shame to open a new thread. I started and finished in Štanjel, to Cerje I rode among others through Komen and Temnica, returned through Sela na Krasu, Brestovica and Kobjeglava, also among others. There were hills, many of them, quite a lot of gravel and cart tracks, and some asphalt in between. Weather gorgeous, traffic almost none, on side roads I sometimes felt forgotten by the creator. Grape harvest was at its peak, almost no vineyard where they weren't harvesting. Osmice have already started, in two villages it was quite lively. Ruj not red yet, for that I'll need to take the bike path again. And for more, there's plenty of nice stuff (not just here) nasmeh

http://tubojan.blogspot.com/2021/10/kras-kolesarjenje.html

(+3)

VCHVAL5. 01. 2022 07:32:38

... super, Thanks !!!
Nice day and greetings from Czechia.
V.Chval

(+1)

bagi7. 01. 2022 10:59:30

Although this is a cycling section, we walked a similar thing on foot this time. The goal was to make a circular variant over Črni hribi starting and ending in Kostanjevica na Krasu. The hills are just the right height so that the coastal fog didn't reach them, and the warm sun provided an almost spring atmosphere. More about the path in the photo story...

A warning about navigation to Kostanjevica na Krasu. Google Maps led us across the Italian border, because according to its logic that's the fastest. It doesn't care about Covid measures, so be careful nasmeh

.

Coordinates of the starting point: 45.8441011N, 13.6417458E

We park in the middle of the village Kostajevica na Krasu at the parking lot in front of the monument

We go clockwise, on the return we pass by the church of St. Martin

Our start of crossing the Črni hribi will be at Cerje

Thematic Peace Path and excellent resting place :)

It is called Boroevičev prestol, but the Romanians are to thank for its installation

We continue along the beautiful and peaceful macadam road

To the left the Pečinka cave and the Oko Krasa on top of Pečina hill beckon us

The cave entrance is closed, but the gunshot traces are clearly visible

Inside there was a military outpost with an artificially excavated trench to the top of Pečina

Here soldiers came from the cave along the artificial trench to the observation post

Due to the observation post and night surveillance, the peak was named Oko Krasa

We are lucky. The altitude is modest, but the sea of fog lingers just a little lower

Official name … Monument to the Defenders of the Slovenian Land at Cerje

From Cerje on we begin crossing the ridge of the Črnih hribov all the way to Trstelj

Typical karst path with good surface for walking

The first in the ridge is overgrown Fajti Hrib. In WWI it was completely bare

Next up is Veliki vrh. It is neither steeper nor substantially higher than the other summits

In many places the forest has been cleared of stones. The difference is only visible where it hasn't

Another of the peaks. Altogether we hiked 11 of them that day.

The trail is pleasant for walking throughout, with more than enough markers.

First marker for Trstelj. The time indications are quite generously estimated :)

The path runs up and down individual peaks throughout, but there are not many elevation gains.

All peaks are equipped with logbooks and stamps. On the last visit in 2016 this was not yet the case.

Trstelj, 643 m high and our last peak of the ridge.

Pleasant Stjenkova koča just below the summit with excellent gibanica.

We return to the starting point along a different direction.

Everything is also nicely marked for equestrians.

On the way we also visit the nearby peak Tabor.

View back to a section of the walked path.

It is incredibly dense and the frost has also set in.

The vine will still be resting for about a month.

We are closing the circle. We are already at the start of Kostanjevica.

GPS track of the hiked path. It showed 20 km and 900 elevation meters.

(+3)

pikica929. 02. 2022 18:22:21

Can you write how long you walked, we have a plan for the weekend?

(+1)

bagi9. 02. 2022 20:26:12

@pikica92 ... giving time is a very thankless piece of data, because everyone is their own kind of walker. Altogether it's 20 km and 900 m elevation. If you're not exactly slow, you'll definitely manage the whole loop in six to seven hours nasmeh

(+2)

mukica13. 02. 2023 09:35:07

Yesterday late morning from Cerje to Vrtovka, where we realized that time-wise we wouldn't make it to Trstelj and back. Below we were surprised by a sign 2h to the peaks zadrega

I assume the path was very nice before the fires, now it's not appealing at all among the burnt trees and rocks, at least I didn't enjoy watching the scorched area.

mirank13. 02. 2023 17:33:03

Oh I don't know who wrote those times on the signs. From Vrtovka to Trstelj you really have to dawdle from cave to cave to take more than one hour mežikanje

. When we were kids it was around Cerje as bare as now... just grass was there

(+2)

bagi4. 02. 2026 16:28:52

We hadn't been in these parts for a long time and the fire happened soon after the last visit. Also the lack of sun in central Slovenia played a role this time, so we set out to walk a longer circular path through the once nicely overgrown hills and check the new state of nature.

We parked a bit below Železna vrata next to the Dornberk hunting hut and headed towards Stjenkova hut under Trstelj. From there we crossed the entire Black Hills ridge all the way to Cerje and hiked numerous summits in between. The wandering was enjoyable on one hand, but sad to observe the bare slopes with numerous charred stumps. Only in real life does it really hit you when you see how extensive the fire really was.

Regarding the path... in these few years the hiking trail has re-established itself and new boxes with summit registers are back on the peaks. Markings are sufficient and well visible, but you can't really get lost anyway. Practically no trees, so the undergrowth has grown strongly. In places thorns are just waiting for passing hikers velik nasmeh

. Also many trees haven't recovered and have fallen across the path over time. But regarding passability no doubt. The whole path is OK, those few small annoyances don't bother nasmeh

.

We returned along the macadam road under the Black Hills high above Renče. In between some short asphalt, but not busy and passes quickly. But the whole return dragged on, as it was over ten kilometers to the starting point.

Coordinates of starting point (hunting hut above Dornberk): 45.8654319N, 13.7221131E

We park a bit above the hunting hut Dornberk Tabor. The road is asphalted but quite narrow.

Through such fog we drove in the valley and had no idea how far it reaches. Luckily it was already fading before :)

We search for the direction sign for Trstelj and tackle the slope

I wouldn't overly praise the path to the hut, but it fits right in

Stjenkova hut is closed, although we quietly expected the opposite for the weekend :)

The entire crossing is also known as *Briceva planinska pot*

Next peak Stol, where we feel a bit playful :)

Then it begins. More and more charred trees, many lying on the ground.

A slightly larger cairn for those who like to get lost :)

Markings are new, the path is anyway one continuous one.

Here the fire has already struck harder.

Despite nice weather it's not pleasant to observe such surroundings.

All the logbooks have been newly placed.

Still a scorched area. These trees will not turn green again.

Many dead trees have fallen over time and blocked the path. The detours are thorny.

First sign for Cerje. Here we cross the connection from one valley to another.

Renški vrh, this one also with a new cache box.

Again a burnt area, again fallen giants.

Sad, but nature will recover as countless times before.

Monument to the defenders of Slovenian land. Extensive construction works are taking place on the plateau around it.

View into the valley. In the foreground is the Lazarist monastery, or Mirenski grad.

We descend a little more towards Italy, then the turning point follows.

Still 10 km return to the starting point awaits us.

We are already at Železnih vratih and almost at the car.

Only on the return I notice the covered sign right next to the parking lot.

GPS track of the entire route. We walked 22 km and 1000 m elevation gain.

(+7)

mirank4. 02. 2026 18:52:07

Nice, quite a solid hike this is. Anyway, Stol and Lešenjak are full of caverns and remains of military objects. In my opinion, these were reserve positions and some smaller artillery units of the AO monarchy. On pic 23 smoke first appeared on Sunday 17.7.22. They kept hammering about Kostanjevica but nothing much about what happened on the last day 22.7., when 9km of the northern slope burned totally in one hour. Adding a pic taken from 1km air line distance so you can imagine the height of the clouds. In the back a bit of the ridge between V vrh and Fajti hrib is visible. Interesting that out of the fire site peeked also a long forgotten inscription FLRJ zavijanje z očmi

(+2)

DVas16. 02. 2026 11:25:12

bagi thanks for the described route. We were yesterday, super everything. We cut directly from the monument at Cerje down, there's a path to the lower macadam. Nothing else to add.

(+1)

bos26. 02. 2026 20:49:01

Everything is written and shown, thanks buddy. mežikanje

We went as a family today along an interesting but sad ridge. jezen