Gozd - Tolsti vrh (Sheep Trail across Kriška Gora)

Access to starting point:
a) From the Ljubljana - Jesenice motorway, take the Kranj - west exit and continue following the road towards Golnik. Just a little after Golnik (more precisely after the settlement of Senično), a steep road branches off to the right uphill towards Zgornji Vetrni and Gozd. After the village of Zgornje Vetrno, the road mostly continues through the forest, and we follow it to the marked parking lot located directly next to the Shelter in Gozd.
b) From the Jesenice - Ljubljana motorway, take the Podbrezje exit, then continue driving towards Ljubelj and Tržič. Before the Petrol gas station in Bistrica pri Tržiču, turn right and then drive into Tržič. When the road descends into the valley, continue sharply right towards Pristava and Križ, then continue on the main road leading towards Zgornji and Spodnji Duplje, leaving the mentioned main road at the settlement of Retnje, where we continue left towards the settlements of Križe and Golnik. Continuing towards Golnik, shortly after the settlement of Križe we arrive at a small intersection, where a steep road branches off to the left towards Zgornji Vetrni and Gozd. After the village of Zgornje Vetrno, the road mostly continues through the forest, and we follow it to the marked parking lot located directly next to the Shelter in Gozd.

Route description:
From the Shelter in Gozd, we walk to the nearby church of St. Nicholas, then reach a marked junction where the path from Golnik joins from the right. We continue left uphill along the increasingly poor road, which brings us to a junction in a few minutes.
Here we take the left path towards the Hut on Kriška Gora (right to Tolsti vrh, Mala and Velika Poljana, and Storžič), which passes a water intake and continues along a forest road. Just a few meters further, the forest road brings us to the next junction.
We continue straight along the forest road towards Kriška Gora (forest path), right is the usual marked path. At this junction, an information board warns us that we will continue on a path exposed to snow avalanches in winter. The forest road ascending through the forest brings us after 20 minutes from the junction to grassy slopes. A short ascent follows to the place where the path brings us to the scenic side ridge of Kriška Gora. Here we encounter an orienteering loop. We continue on the right path, which ascends along an indistinct side ridge on the southern slope of Kriška Gora. A bit higher, the path brings us to a place where we cross grassy slopes with a slight ascent, after which the path leads us into a short stretch of forest. A little further, we reach a clearing, above which we notice the route of a cargo cableway. The path ahead ascends under the cableway all the way to the Hut on Kriška Gora.
From the Hut on Kriška Gora, we continue along the marked path towards Tolsti vrh. The path turns slightly left just a few meters behind the hut (slightly right to Gozd) and begins to ascend gently across the grassy slope. After three minutes of walking, an almost imperceptible path to Grahovše branches off to the left (the path to Grahovše is closed to hikers as it passes through a hunting area), but we continue along the well-trodden hiking path that runs along the main ridge of Kriška Gora. Further on, the path moves away from the ridge to the right side several times, but the scenic path mostly leads across grassy slopes. A bit further, the path returns to the ridge, which we reach exactly at a pronounced notch, where a pathless path to Grahovše branches off left downhill.
The path ahead leads across a pasture fence, then bypasses Vrata (1591 m) on the right side. Higher up, the path returns to or along the ridge and ascends gently for a while. After a few minutes of traversing, we reach the place where the path begins to ascend steeply towards the forepeak of Tolsti vrh. From the forepeak, a beautiful view opens up in all directions, and the path ahead leads us along a narrower ridge for a short time. A short descent through the forest follows, then the path begins to ascend again. Higher up, the forest thins out, and the increasingly scenic path brings us to Tolsti vrh.

Starting point - St. Nicholas 0:05, St. Nicholas - junction above Gozd 0:10, junction above Gozd - Ovčja path junction 0:10, Ovčja path junction - Hut on Kriška Gora 1:05, Hut on Kriška Gora - Tolsti vrh 1:00.

PS: In case any object falls from the cableway and injures us, the cableway owner is not responsible for our accident, as the information board informs us that we walk at our own risk!

Along the route: Koča na Kriški gori (890m), Gozd (890m), Razpotje nad Gozdom (950m), Odcep Ovčje poti (1008m), Koča na Kriški gori (1471m), Razpotje zahodno od Kriške gore (1482m), Pod Vrati (1562m), Jircek (1662m)

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