Gornje Retje - Koča pri Sveti Ani on Mala gora (via Grmada)

Access to starting point:
From Ljubljana, we drive towards Kočevje or vice versa. Only about a kilometer after (from the direction of Kočevje before) Velike Lašče we will get to a crossroad, where we turn left towards the village Gornje Retje (from the direction of Kočevje right). The road then through a narrow overpass above the railway track brings us to a crossroad, where we continue right. The road after a short ascent quickly brings us to Gornje Retje, where a trail blaze points us left upwards on a steep road. We follow the steep asphalt road approximately 100 meters to the spot, where we notice a yellow mountain signpost with the caption Grmada, which points us on a bad macadam road, by which we then park (we can also park below the village near the recycling containers, but the way we don't hinder a possible garbage pickup).

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue in the direction of Grmada on an increasingly bad road which higher changes into a cart track. The cart track higher passes out of the forest on a wide meadows, through which the path continues without large changes in altitude. The path then goes into a short lane of a forest, where it slightly descends, crosses the macadam road and on the other side ascends towards a smaller hamlet. A little before the hamlet, the path turns right and then it is ascending gently on the upper side of the next of meadow. A pleasant path soon crosses another short lane of a forest, after which it passes on unvegetated slopes, from which a view opens up towards Grmada. In a gentle ascent we walk over a grassy slope, and then the path again disappears into the forest, where we in a gentle descent cross the next forest road. After that, the path again comes out of the forest and continues on a wide, partly rocky cart track which at the hunting observatory turns quite to the right. Blazes then point us to the left on a little steeper grassy slope, on which we ascend to the periphery of the forest, where from the left side, the path from Kamen vrh joins.
We continue on a marked path, which goes even a little more to the left into the forest and in a moderate steepness we follow it to the top of Grmada, or to few steps distant mountain hut Dom na Grmadi.
At the hut we notice signs for Sveta Ana, which point us on a macadam road which starts descending towards a smaller village Vrh pri Poljanah. Still before we get to houses in the village, the road becomes asphalted, and after the houses we get to a smaller crossroad at a bigger built chapel.
We continue straight on the asphalt road (on the left road, or lower mountain path, we can get to Podgora or Podpeč), and from which soon a marked footpath branches off to the right towards Ortnek, and we again continue straight on a descending road which also leads towards the village Ortnek. With a view on surrounding hills, and in good visibility also on Snežnik, we quickly get to the right turn, where we continue straight on a marked cart track in the direction of Sveta Ana. The cart track or a little further, the footpath gradually passes into the forest and crosses slopes of Vrbovec. After few minutes, we reach another cart track, on which we continue in the direction of Sveta Ana, and we walk there for a short time because a marked path from there soon turns slightly to the right (this part isn't well-marked). Next follows few minutes of walking through the forest and then on another cart track we descend to a macadam road which we follow to the left (right - Velike Poljane and Ortnek).
From the spot, where we step on the road for quite some time, we still continue with a diagonal ascent through the forest and then we get to a little bigger crossroad, where we continue straight in the direction of Sveta Ana (on the road sharply left, we can get to Kompolje or Rapljevo). Next follows few minutes of a light to moderate ascent, and then the path after an indistinct saddle between the peaks Tisovec (931 meters) and Špičnik (926 meters) starts descending. Next follows few minutes of descent, and then signs for Sveta Ana point us to the left on a little worse road which starts ascending steeper (a wider road which we leave leads towards Ribnica). On an ascending road we walk few minutes, and then blazes lead us a little more to the right on a marked footpath which continues through the forest. When the path after few minutes entirely flattens, we reach the cart track and we follow it to the left, where we walk by the edge of a smaller valley, where in spring time grows a wild garlic.
Somewhere in the middle of a small valley, a relatively well-marked path turns right and passes on slopes of the peak Stene svete Ane. Few minutes we are ascending relatively steeply towards the right, and then signs for Sveta Ana from the cart track point us sharply to the left on even a little steeper footpath. Next follows a relatively steep ascent, and then after few minutes, the path flattens and in few additional strides it brings us to the spot, where a short path branches off to the left, which leads towards the nearby viewpoint.
From the viewpoint, we return to the mentioned crossing, and from there we continue in the direction of Sveta Ana. Next follows a short crossing, and then from the left joins the path from the settlement Struge, and few steps ahead, the path branches off to the right to the summit Stene svete Ane (straight - mountain hut Koča pri Sveti Ani on Mala gora).
From the crossing follows a minute of walking and we reach the peak, on which there is situated a geodetic tower.
From the top, we descend few 10 strides to the last crossing, and from there we continue in the direction of Sveta Ana, on the path which gradually starts lightly descending. The path slowly widens into a cart track, on which in good 10 minutes we get to the mountain hut Koča pri Sveti Ani on Mala gora.
For a nice view it is worth to walk also to the nearby church, from where a view opens up towards Ribnica and Velika gora.
Gornje Retje - Grmada 1:40, Grmada - Stene svete Ane 2:20, Stene svete Ane - Koča pri Sveti Ani on Mala gora 15 minutes.

On the way: Grmada na Mali gori (887m), Stene svete Ane (964m)