Fram - Mariborska koča (via Hotel Zarja)

Access to starting point:
We leave the Štajerska motorway at the Fram exit and follow the signs for Fram. When we reach the main road Slovenska Bistrica - Maribor, from the traffic-light-controlled intersection we continue straight and drive into the centre of Fram. We continue through the settlement, and when we arrive at the parking lot below the parish church of St. Anne, we park in the parking lot in the centre of the settlement.

Path description:
From the starting point, we head onto the road that bypasses the church of St. Anne on the left side and along which there are signs for Ruška koča na Arehu (right - Mariborska koča). When a little further ahead the road turns right, we continue straight onto a side road, where we go past the cemetery. On the upper part of the cemetery the path splits, and we can continue on the marked path, which first goes along the cemetery, then turns right and joins the cart track, where we join the path if at the cemetery we continue right onto the cart track in the direction of the water source Zlati studenec.
From the junction of both paths we continue for approximately one more minute and arrive at the source Zlati studenec, where there is an information board.
We continue on the marked path, which takes us out of the forest and a few steps further to the asphalt road, which we follow right uphill, bypassing the nearby chapel on the left side. With nice views we continue past a few more houses, then the signs for Areh direct us right, a little further ahead we go left, again towards Areh. The road a little further ahead turns into a cart track that ascends transversely through the forest, higher up we reach a smaller intersection of asphalt roads. We continue onto the side marked road, which first rises gently, then begins to descend. The road soon stops descending, after the cross we go slightly left from the road onto the marked cart track, which leads us past the nearby farm. Behind the farm a nice view towards Boč opens up first, then the path goes into the forest, and we ascend transversely for a few more minutes, then cross a meadow, at the hunting observatory we return to the forest. We walk through the forest for a short time, then reach a larger grassy area, where the path turns left. After the grassy section we return to the road, where the path leads us past two tourist farms, after them we go right onto the marked path (straight Sv. Križ), which crosses a strip of forest, then returns to the road. We follow the road to the right, at the nearby intersection we take the left road. We continue on the road for a few minutes, when the road makes a longer right bend we go left from the road onto the marked path, which ascends along the power line. Higher we reach a narrower asphalt road, where we go right, at the intersection with the priority road we go left. The path ahead leads us past a smaller hamlet, then the road returns to the forest, where soon the blazes direct us right onto the footpath towards Areh. Through the forest at numerous junctions we follow the blazes, the path first leads past a cross, higher also past the NOB monument, near which there is another cross.
Here we also step onto the asphalt road, which we quickly leave and continue right into the forest, where at the junctions we follow the blazes, higher we reach the main asphalt road and follow it left.
We walk along the main road to the intersection, where the road to Hotel Zarja branches off to the right.
We continue right along the marked road in the direction of Hotel Zarja (slightly left along the Areh footpath) and in a few minutes of transverse ascent arrive at the mentioned hotel.
We bypass the hotel along the lower side, on the eastern side of the hotel we head onto the path towards Mariborska koča. We continue along the cart track, which leads through the forest, ascending transversely along it on the southeastern slopes of the peak Sedovec (1231 m). Higher we reach the marked path that connects Mariborska koča and Ruška koča na Arehu, and we follow the worse road to the right. The road then begins to descend gradually and after a few minutes we arrive at the marked junction, where we continue right downhill and continue along the wider macadam road (left Pečke, straight viewpoint tower). We descend the mentioned road for a few minutes, at the intersections continuing straight, when the road becomes asphalt we go right downhill from the road onto the marked path, along which we quickly descend to Mariborska koča.
Fram - Zlati studenec 0:10, Zlati studenec - Hotel Zarja 3:20, Hotel Zarja - Mariborska koča 0:45.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in March 2022.

On the way: Water source Zlati studenec (375m), Planinski dom Zarja (Hotel Zarja) (1113m)