Fram - Mariborski razglednik (Cigelnica) (via Petkovo sedlo)

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, at the traffic-light crossroads we continue straight and drive to 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 turn right onto the road towards Mariborska koča (straight to Ruška koča na Arehu), at the nearby crossroads we go left towards Ranče and begin to ascend along the Framski potok stream. When the road towards Ranče turns right, we continue straight onto a side road, along which the blazes continue and along which there are signs for the fish farm. There follow a few more smaller crossroads where we follow the blazes; when we move away from the stream, the road soon loses its asphalt surface. Higher up, we also pass a cross and an older house, then we descend slightly; before the barrier we go slightly right onto a footpath that ascends transversely across the steep slope. The path continues along a cart track; when the path turns right, we quickly leave the forest and ascend to the settlement Ranče, where we reach an asphalt road.
We continue through the village; from the crossroads behind Gostišče Meglič we go left. We continue ascending along the asphalt road where we follow the blazes; higher up we leave the asphalt road to the left onto a macadam road along which we walk to the crossroads of newer logging tracks and roads. Here we carefully follow the blazes to choose the correct cart track for continuing; we ascend along the cart track to the top of Sedovec, from which there follows a short descent to the asphalt road, which we reach at a wooden sculpture.
We continue left towards Mariborska koča (right Slivnica) and ascend moderately, mostly through the forest; when we leave the forest we descend to the Plahutnik farm, where from the crossroads we continue straight onto a marked cart track that ascends across a hay meadow. Higher up we cross a strip of forest and arrive at the hospital for lung diseases, beyond which we cross a wider asphalt road. We ascend again through a strip of forest; when we return to the wider road we follow it to the right, from it before the left bend we go left onto a cart track that cuts the mentioned longer bend. When we reach it again we cross it once more and after a few steps ascend to a macadam road, which we follow left uphill. There follows some ascent along the macadam road, which soon levels out and takes us past the Planinka hut and a few houses to Petkovo sedlo, where there is a marked junction.
At Petkovo sedlo we join the path from Pivola, and the path branches. Along the slightly left road the path continues towards the Skalca waterfall; slightly right leads the road to hotel Tisa; right leads the path to the hunting hut, but we continue straight towards Mariborska koča.
We continue across a meadow between two roads, then the path enters the forest where we follow the blazes. Higher up we cross the main road to hotel Bellevue once more, a little further on we leave the forest. We continue past a cross; when we reach the asphalt road from the marked junction we continue, from which we head onto a side road towards sv. Bolfenk and hotel Bellevue (left Mariborska koča 3 minutes). We continue along the side road that leads us through the settlement of holiday houses; in the settlement we continue along the upper left road that begins to ascend more steeply (straight sv. Bolfenk and hotel Bellevue). The settlement of holiday houses ends after a few minutes, and we continue along the marked cart track, where at junctions of numerous logging tracks we follow the blazes. Higher up we reach the path that leads over Ledinekov kogel; we continue right and begin to descend gently. A little further on, the path over Pečke joins us from the left.
The path ahead takes us out of the forest and we arrive at the lookout tower on Mariborski razglednik.
The description and images refer to the conditions in 2022 and 2023.

On the way: Ranče (525m), Slivniško Pohorje (726m), Petkovo sedlo (881m)