Hotavlje - Kucelj (above Kopačnica) (via village Studor)

Access to starting point:
A) From Železniki, Kranj or Medvode we drive to Škofja Loka, from there we continue driving towards Gorenja vas in Poljanska dolina and Žiri. After Gorenja vas, in the settlement Hotavlje, at the crossroads behind Gostilna Lipan inn we leave the main road towards Žiri and continue driving right towards the Cerkno ski resort and Leskovica village. Still before the end of Hotavlje we turn right towards the Blegoš trail, Marmor Hotavlje company and Loška zadruga (straight - Kopačnica, Leskovica and Cerkno ski resort). After approximately 100 meters from the crossroads we arrive at Loška zadruga, where we park.
B) From Horjul or Polhov Gradec we drive to Lučine, from there we descend to Gorenja vas. In Gorenja vas we continue left towards Žiri, then in Hotavlje at the crossroads behind Gostilna Lipan inn we continue right towards the Cerkno ski resort and Leskovica village. Still before the end of Hotavlje we turn right towards the Blegoš trail, Marmor Hotavlje company and Loška zadruga (straight - Kopačnica, Leskovica and Cerkno ski resort). After approximately 100 meters from the crossroads we arrive at Loška zadruga, where we park.
C) From Vrhnika, Logatec or Spodnja Idrija we drive to Žiri, from there we continue driving towards Gorenja vas and Škofja Loka, but we drive along the main road only to the settlement Hotavlje, where we turn left towards the Cerkno ski resort and Leskovica village. Still before the end of Hotavlje we turn right towards the Blegoš trail, Marmor Hotavlje company and Loška zadruga (straight - Kopačnica, Leskovica and Cerkno ski resort). After approximately 100 meters from the crossroads we arrive at Loška zadruga, where we park.
D) First we drive to Cerkno, from there we continue driving over the Kladje pass (Podlanišče) towards Sovodenj. From Sovodenj we continue driving along the Hobovščica stream, then at a somewhat larger crossroads we continue left towards Gorenja vas (right Žiri). Along the main road towards Škofja Loka we drive to the settlement Hotavlje, where we turn left towards the Cerkno ski resort and Leskovica village. Still before the end of Hotavlje we turn right towards the Blegoš trail, Marmor Hotavlje company and Loška zadruga (straight - Kopačnica, Leskovica and Cerkno ski resort). After approximately 100 meters from the crossroads we arrive at Loška zadruga, where we park.

Path description:
From the starting point we continue along the road ahead, which quickly takes us to Marmor Hotavlje company, after which Hotavlje ends. The path ahead leads along the Volaščica stream, from the nearby crossroads we go left towards Volaka and Čabrač (right Suša and Malenski Vrh). We quickly arrive at Volaka, where we continue straight (right sv. Jedert and Blegoš), then we walk along Volaščica for quite some time.
A little further ahead from the crossroads we continue slightly left towards the villages Debeni, Studor and Leskovica, for a short time we continue along the Studorščica stream, from which we distance ourselves in the left bend. Higher we leave the dense forest and with occasional views we arrive at the settlement Debeni, where we notice an older marking. The asphalt road higher takes us to the village Studor, where on the right beside the first houses we notice a stone landmark, but at the first crossroads we go left, a little further past the hayrack once again left onto the forest road, which temporarily descends moderately. This is followed by crossing the slopes of Jurežev vrh (866 m), then we already arrive at the slopes of Kucelj (920 m), where the road begins to ascend more noticeably. Still before the road leaves the forest we go slightly right from it onto a cart track, which takes us from the forest to the meadows of the smaller Makovc plateau, where a view opens onto Blegoš and where the path through Srednje Brdo joins from the left.
Here we continue slightly right and with a view of the surrounding hills we arrive at a smaller saddle, where we leave the wider cart track and go right onto a somewhat narrower one, from it immediately left onto a cart track that ascends diagonally to the left. A little further we again leave the forest into which we entered at the smaller saddle and then ascend with nice views along the sunny slopes of Kucelj. After the scenic section we return to the forest, after a few minutes we join the marked path from Kopačnica.
Here we go right and in a few dozen steps of further walking we reach the 920-meter-high summit.
The description and photos refer to the condition in January 2021.

On the way: Volaka (460m), Debeni (680m), Studor (730m)