Bistriški jarek (Verdinek) - Bricnik

Access to starting point:
A) We drive to Dravograd, then continue driving towards Maribor. After the road sign for 8.0 km, we pay attention, as a little behind the bus stop and pedestrian crossing we turn left into the settlement Gortina (the turn-off from the main road is not marked). Immediately after leaving the main road, we arrive in the settlement Gortina, then drive in the direction of Muta, turning left at the marked intersection where we notice signs for Bistriški jarek. The road then quickly brings us to Bistriški jarek, through which we gently ascend. After the homestead Verdinek and still before the road sign for 6.0 km, a macadam road branches off slightly to the right, leading towards the homestead Štrigel. At the intersection, where a little to the right there are also red mountain signposts, the described path begins.
B) First, we drive to Maribor, then follow the signs for Dravograd. When we are already crossing Mučka Bistrica, a little after the Tuš store we turn right in the direction of the settlement Muta 1. The route ahead brings us to Muta, where at intersections we follow the priority road; from a somewhat larger intersection we go left, so that further on we drive towards Gortina. A little after the settlement Muta ends, from the marked intersection we turn right in the direction of Bistriški jarek. The road then quickly brings us to Bistriški jarek, through which we gently ascend. After the homestead Verdinek and still before the road sign for 6.0 km, a macadam road branches off slightly to the right, leading towards the homestead Štrigel. At the intersection, where a little to the right there are also red mountain signposts, the described path begins.

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue even a little more to the right than where the side road branches off, on the footpath in the direction of sv. Jernej and Bricnik. At first the path ascends diagonally across the pasture, then passes into the forest, where at the sign it flattens completely. For a short time we still cross the slopes to the right, then continue along the stream. Higher along the stream, the state border also runs for some time, and the path higher brings us to a cart track, along which we ascend for a few minutes. From the cart track, the mountain signposts direct us sharply left, and we ascend through the forest for some time, before the homestead Lubej temporarily stepping onto the road.
Before the homestead we continue slightly right onto a worse path, above the homestead we reach the cart track, which we follow to the right. A well-marked path brings us a few minutes higher to a junction, beside which there is an information board with the description of the Knafelc marking with a green ring.
We continue straight towards sv. Jernej (left Austria, sv. Lovrenc), and the path a little higher brings us out of the forest, where we go right, temporarily once again into the forest. We quickly leave the forest, then past the cemetery reach the church of sv. Jernej.
From the church we quickly descend to the homestead Primož, where at the mighty linden tree there are the stamp book box and stamp.
At the linden tree there is also a marked junction, and we continue slightly left in the direction towards Bricnik and sv. Lovrenc (slightly right sv. Primož). Behind the homestead Primož we continue for a short time on the macadam road, then go slightly left onto the footpath, which continues across a vast panoramic meadow. The path ahead leads us also past a chapel and a hunting observatory, then turns left and passes into the forest. Through the forest we first begin to descend moderately, and when the signs direct us right onto a worse cart track, we begin to descend a little more. Lower we reach the Vud stream, along which we continue for some time, then cross it and ascend to the nearby junction, beside which there is a wooden sign.
From the junction, the path branches off to the left towards sv. Lovrenc / St. Lorenzen, and we continue right towards the farm Odernik, Bricnik and Muta. The path ahead leads us along a cart track, at Odernik it widens into a macadam road. We continue along the macadam road, which leads us with ever more beautiful views reaching to Peca, Raduha and Uršlja gora; after the nearby chapel the road gradually returns to the forest, where at the intersection we continue right towards Bricnik and sv. Primož (left sv. Trije Kralji). From the intersection we continue a few minutes along the road, then go straight onto a cart track, which first ascends more steeply through the forest, and when it flattens, quickly brings us to the top of Bricnik.
Bistriški jarek - sv. Jernej 1:40, sv. Jernej - Bricnik 1:30.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in 2018 (October).

On the way: Sveti Jernej nad Muto (1038m)

Trip can be extended to: St. Lorenzen ob Eibiswald