Brest - Špičasti vrh (pri Žbevnici) (čez Žbevnico)

Access to starting point:
a) Leave the Primorska motorway at the Kastelec exit and follow the signs for Podgorje. Through the Podgorje border crossing we arrive in Croatia. Drive through Jelovice to Vodic, where you turn right. Then drive through Dane to the next junction, where you turn right towards Brest. The road makes a serpentine and you drive along the slope of Žbevnica. When you arrive in Brest, park on the right side of the road by the bocce court.
b) Leave the Primorska motorway at the Črni Kal exit and continue on the old road towards the sea, but drive on it only to the next somewhat larger junction, where you turn left towards the Sočerga border crossing. Along the mentioned road, drive past the village of Kubed to Gračišče, where at the junction turn left towards Rakitovca, Movraža and Smokvice. Drive through Smokvica and Movraž to the next junction, where you turn right towards the Rakitovec border crossing. You can also reach here via Zazid. Upon arriving in Croatia, you reach a wider road coming from Buzet; continue left towards Brest. The winding road leads to the village, where you park at the end on the left by the road at the bocce court.

Path description:
At the starting point, signs direct us onto a wide and initially gentle path into the forest. The path leads past a water reservoir and soon after a concrete structure, becoming steep. We cross to the right and after a few minutes reach a technically easy, short steep rocky section. The path is well routed over it; we just need to watch our step to avoid slipping. After the rocky section, we arrive at the Žbevnica Mountain Hut. From the hut, continue to the forest road, where signs direct us straight into the forest. To the left along the forest road is a gentle path to Žbevnica. The gentle path leads through a dense pine forest and past a concrete structure with blue doors. The path turns right and the forest gradually thins. A steep serpentine path with ever better views of Istria brings us to a panoramic grassy wide summit ridge. 5 minutes of walking on grassy terrain separate us from the summit of Žbevnica. Beautiful views open up in all directions from the top.
From the top, continue north. The wide path descends steeply to a small saddle, where a gentle path joins from the left; we continue straight along the ridge over an unnamed peak, after which the path descends again. The marked path follows the ridge strictly, where it is barely traceable, while the forest road deviates slightly from the ridge and is easy to follow. The path begins to ascend and soon we reach Muzare, from where beautiful views open in all directions.
Continue along the grassy ridge, which begins to descend. The path then flattens and we reach a fork, where we turn onto the trail. Straight ahead is the path to Golič, bypassing Špičasti vrh. The path ascends a panoramic grassy slope and in 5 minutes we are at Špičasti vrh.
Description and photos refer to conditions in November 2024 and 2025.

On the way: Planinarska kuća Žbevnica (851m), Žbevnica (1014m), Muzari (985m)