Bistriški jarek (Verdinek) - Sveti Primož above Muta

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

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue a little further to the right than where the side road branches off, on the footpath in the direction of Sveti Jernej and Bricnik. Initially, the path ascends transversely across the pasture, then passes into the forest, where it flattens out completely at the shrine. 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 brings us higher 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 continue ascending through the forest for some time, before the homestead Lubej temporarily stepping onto the road.
Before the homestead, we continue slightly to the right on a poorer path, above the homestead reaching the cart track, which we follow to the right. The well-marked path brings us a few minutes higher to a junction, beside which there is an information board describing the Knafelc marking with a green ring.
We continue straight towards Sveti Jernej (left Austria, Sveti Lovrenc), and the path a little higher brings us out of the forest, where we go right, temporarily back into the forest. We quickly leave the forest, then past the cemetery reach the church of Sveti Jernej.
From the church, we quickly descend to the homestead Primož, where beside the mighty linden tree there are the stamping box and stamp.
At the linden tree there is also a marked junction, and we continue slightly to the right in the direction of Sveti Primož (slightly left Sveti Lovrenc and Bricnik) and continue along the road, which first descends gently, then moderately. Lower, we cross a strip of forest, then before the homestead Ižek step out of the forest onto panoramic slopes, from which a beautiful view opens up reaching all the way to Uršlja gora. When we arrive at the homestead Ižek, we leave the road and continue left, first along the cart track, then descend across the pasture to the hunting observatory (across the pasture the path is not visible). At the hunting observatory, the cart track appears, along which we descend easily. A little further, we cross the pasture fence, the cart track enters the forest and begins to descend more steeply. The descent ends at the crossing of the stream Vud, where we go right, and when some 10 steps further we reach a wider road, we continue uphill. We then ascend along the occasionally panoramic road, which we follow all the way to the church of Sveti Primož, from which a beautiful view opens up on the Dravska dolina valley and Pohorje.
Bistriški jarek - Sveti Jernej 1:40, Sveti Jernej - Sveti Primož 1:20.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in 2018 (October).

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