Bridge over Dušica - Zaplaz

Access to starting point:
A) From the highway Ljubljana - Novo mesto, we take the exit Trebnje east, then continue driving in the direction of the settlement Velika Loka. After the settlement Zidani Most, we arrive at the settlement Štefan pri Trebnjem, where we continue sharply left in the direction of Zaplaz. After a few kilometers of a partly winding road, we arrive at Čatež, from where the road starts descending towards the river Mirna. When we arrive in the valley, we cross the bridge over the stream Dušica, where we park at a suitable place at the crossroad.
B) From Trebnje or Mokronog, we drive to Mirna, from there towards Litija. Towards Litija, we drive to the sharp right bend, from there we continue left in the direction of Cirnik and Selske Gore. After Cirnik, the road gradually starts descending. When we descend to the river Mirna, we first cross the bridge, then at the crossroad we continue left. From the crossroad, we drive approximately 200 meters to the bridge over the stream Dušica. We park at a suitable place at the crossroad.
C) We drive to Šmartno pri Litiji, from there we continue driving towards Gabrovka. After the settlement Moravče pri Gabrovki, after the transformer, we turn slightly right in the direction towards the gas station. Further on, we drive through the valley of the river Mirna. When, after the turn-off for Gornje Ravne, the road turns right, leaves the river Mirna and brings us to the stream Dušica, we park at a suitable place by the road at the bridge over the mentioned stream.

Path description:
From the starting point at the bridge over Dušica, we head onto the macadam road, along which we notice signs for the pilgrimage path (pot romarjev). We continue for a short time along the small valley by the mentioned stream, then at the smaller crossroad we continue along the upper right road. We continue along the road to the homestead Dule, where a marked path from the village Okrog joins us from the right.
We continue through the yard, then behind the house the road ends and we continue along a poorer grassy cart track, which leads us across the hayfield. A little further ahead, the path turns right, temporarily ascends a little more steeply, then joins a wider cart track, which we follow to the left. The cart track leads us for a few minutes along the upper edge of the hayfield, then enters the forest, where at the nearby junction we reach the Levstikova pot from Litija to Čatež.
We follow the mentioned path to the left, along which we descend in two hairpin turns to a smaller stream, which we cross, then continue traversing through the forest. While walking through the forest, the path leads us past several information boards of the Levstikova pot, then a little behind the wooden cross we emerge from the forest, where we cross the next stream. At the hunting observatory, we continue left in the direction of the pilgrimage path (pot romarjev), then ascend diagonally through the forest to the asphalt road a few minutes away, which leads through the settlement Čatež. We follow the road to the right, along which we quickly arrive at the large parking lot, which is located behind the fire station.
From the parking lot, near which is also the endpoint of the Levstikova pot from Litija to Čatež, we first ascend to the parish church of St. Michael in Čatež, from there behind the church we continue right and at the inn Gostilna Tončkov dom we return to the main road, which we reach at the marked crossroad. We continue the ascent along the main road, which leads us past the bus station and the tourist map, then after a good 100 meters we continue right onto the steep road in the direction of Zaplaz. The road quickly flattens and turns left, bringing us to the edge of the forest, where there is a marked junction.
The right path leads towards Zagrič and also to Bajturn and Zaplaz, while we continue along the asphalt road for another 10 steps or so, then the sign for the pilgrimage path directs us onto a grassy path, along which with nice views in a few minutes we ascend to the church on Zaplaz.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in the year 2016 (March).

On the way: Čatež (454m)

Trip can be extended to: Bajturn (Zaplaški hrib) ( 20 min)