Ivarčko jezero - Dom na Uršlji gori (via Kozji hrbet)

Access to starting point:
A) From highway Ljubljana - Maribor we go to the exit Žalec, and then we continue driving in the direction of Velenje, Mislinja and Slovenj Gradec. In Slovenj Gradec at the traffic light (at store Lidl) we turn left and then at the crossroads we follow the road in the direction of Ravne na Koroškem and Kotlje. From Slovenj Gradec the road is few kilometers ascending, and then descends in Kotlje, where at the crossroad we continue left towards the lake Ivarčko jezero (right Ravne na Koroškem). Further, we follow a little narrower road in the direction of the lake Ivarčko jezero (also ski slope Ivarčko-Ošven), near of which we also park on one of the many settled parking spots.
B) From Koroška we at first drive to Ravne na Koroškem, and then we continue driving towards the settlement Kotlje. From Kotlje ahead we follow the signs for lake Ivarčko jezero and ski slope Ivarčko-Ošven. We park on a parking lot by the lake, or on a parking lot by the ski slope.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we at first walk to the nearby roundabout and from there we continue to the bottom station of the 4 seater chairlift. On the other side of the ski track, we step on the road, and in a gentle ascent it brings us to a smaller hamlet. We walk among the houses, and a little narrower road quickly brings us to a crossroad, where we join a wider asphalt road, and we follow it to the left. The road further ascends through a panoramic meadow, and then it brings us to the edge of the forest, where there is a smaller crossroad and next to it NOB monument.
We continue straight on an asphalt road, and higher it turns to the right and crosses a riverbed of the stream Suha. Only few meters after the bridge, marked path branches off to the left, which is further ascending by the edge of the forest, and higher passes into a dense forest and after few minutes it returns on the road. The road ahead is ascending on the right side of the ditch (looking in the direction of ascent), and we walk there to the spot, where the ditch flattens. At this spot, we will notice on the left side a smaller wooden bridge, which we cross and we continue on a cart track which is at first ascending gently towards the left and then turns to the right and gradually vanishes. We continue by the edge of the forest and we follow poorly marked path until we come on an asphalt road (to here possible also on the road). We follow the road uphill, and it quickly brings us to a marked crossroad, where we continue right in the direction of Uršlja gora. We continue on the road which leads towards Naravske Ledine, and we follow it past the turn-off to the left, where we continue straight to mountain signposts for Uršlja gora over Kozji hrbet. Here we continue left and we at first ascend on a cart track which soon crosses a forest road. We continue on a marked path, which gradually starts ascending steeper and steeper. After that, the path passes on the northwestern ridge of Uršlja gora (Kozji hrbet) on and by which we are ascending relatively steeply. Higher, we cross another cart track, and after approximately half an hour of additional walking, we join the path from Naravske Ledine.
From the crossing, we continue in the direction of Uršlja gora and we are for some time still steeply ascending. Higher, the path flattens, and the forest gets thinner, so beautiful views start to open up. This path, which a little below the summit finally passes out of the forest on a panoramic slope, we follow all the way to 1699 meters high peak.
From the top then in few minutes we descend to the nearby mountain hut and church of St. Uršula.

On the way: Uršlja gora (Plešivec) (1699m)