Oplotnica - Črno jezero on Pohorje (via Kos)

Access to starting point:
A) From the Ljubljana - Maribor highway, take the Slovenske Konjice exit, then follow the signs for Slovenske Konjice. From the roundabout for the OMV gas station, turn right at the first exit towards Slovenska Bistrica, drive towards Slovenska Bistrica to the left turn-off of the road towards Oplotnica and Osankarica. Turn towards Oplotnica and drive along the road to the center of the settlement, where we park on one of the many parking lots in the settlement.
B) From the Maribor - Ljubljana highway, take the Slovenska Bistrica - south exit, then follow the signs for Slovenske Konjice. Soon after Slovenska Bistrica, turn right towards Oplotnica, then drive to the center of Oplotnica, where we park on one of the many parking lots in the settlement.

Route description:
From the center of the settlement, we head onto the path towards Osankarica, Črno jezero and Tri Kralji and initially walk along the sidewalk past the Mercator store, the Pohorski bataljon Oplotnica primary school to the Salama pizzeria, where we go left and then immediately right, bypassing the pizzeria on the right side.
The path ahead begins to ascend visibly along a narrower asphalt road that leads us past occasional houses; when we reach the Lačna Gora settlement, a nice view also opens up towards Oplotnica and the surrounding hills.
Higher up, at the cross, the signs for Črno jezero direct us right, where we pass the last house, behind which we continue the ascent on a macadam road, from which we soon go left into the forest onto a marked footpath. Through the forest we ascend more steeply, a little higher we cross the macadam road that we left shortly before, then in a moderate ascent we arrive at the church of St. Mohor and Fortunatus.
At the church, we return to the road along which we continue north. The road soon turns into a cart track that first leads through the forest, then across a panoramic grassy area, where we descend slightly for a short while.
When in Kebelj village we reach the asphalt road, we cross it diagonally to the right, then go left towards Črno jezero, bypassing the nearby house on the right side. This is followed by a few minutes of panoramic ascent across the grassy slope; when we step onto the end of the asphalt road for a few steps, a path joins from the right with its starting point at the cemetery in Kebelj village.
We continue straight along the marked cart track, which turns right before entering the forest and continues along the forest edge; from this cart track, the marks direct us left onto a narrower cart track that continues through the forest. Through the forest we follow the marks; when the path turns slightly right, after a short crossing another path from Kebelj settlement joins from the right.
Here we go left and quickly arrive at the ruins of Kebeljski or Zajčev grad.
We bypass the ruins on the left side and follow the marks to the nearby asphalt road, where we go straight uphill. A little further ahead, the asphalt road we are following turns right, while a path towards Osankarica branches left (Kebeljska transverzala path). We leave the asphalt road a little further on, where the signs for Črno jezero direct us left into the forest. A short ascent through the forest follows, then past numerous pieces of litter we reach the nearby homestead (from the opposite direction there is also a warning about a vicious dog). At the homestead the road becomes asphalt and we quickly return to a somewhat wider asphalt road along which we continue the ascent. After a few minutes the marks direct us left onto a grassy cart track along which we ascend along the forest edge; higher up past the house we step back onto the asphalt road that takes us to the next marked junction.
We continue left onto the macadam road towards Črno jezero (right along the asphalt road to Sv. Trije kralji and Črno jezero past Sv. Trije kralji). We walk along the macadam road for a few minutes, then go right towards Črno jezero. The path ahead first leads along a cart track, a little higher we ascend across a clearing. Behind the clearing we return to the forest and quickly ascend to the road near the Kos homestead, where we go a few steps right, then left onto the marked cart track. An ascent through the forest follows where we follow the marks, and the path leads past a viewpoint from which a nice view opens up. We also continue following the marks; the path soon takes us to a wider macadam road, which we merely cross (left Osankarica, right Sv. Trije kralji).
A few more minutes of ascent follow; near the indistinct Adamov vrh the path levels out and then begins to descend gradually. A few more junctions follow, and the path gradually enters increasingly swampy terrain where the path starts to disappear. Here we carefully follow the marks and take care not to wade into the swamp. We follow such a path to the nearby Črno jezero.
Oplotnica - sv. Mohor 0:45, sv. Mohor - Zajčev grad 0:40, Zajčev grad - Črno jezero 2:05.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in April 2022.

Along the route: Lačna Gora (516m), Sveti Mohor (Lačna Gora) (602m), Kebelj castle (Castle Zajec) (813m), Nadgrad (851m)

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