Oplotnica - Veliki vrh (on Pohorje)

Access to starting point:
A) From the Ljubljana - Maribor highway, we take the Slovenske Konjice exit, then follow the signs for Slovenske Konjice. From the roundabout for the OMV gas station, we turn at the first right exit towards Slovenska Bistrica, drive towards Slovenska Bistrica to the left turn-off of the road towards Oplotnica and Osankarica. We 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, we take the Slovenska Bistrica - south exit, then follow the signs for Slovenske Konjice. Soon after Slovenska Bistrica, we 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 on the path in the direction of Osankarica, Črno jezero lake and Three Kings and initially walk on the sidewalk past the Mercator store, primary school Pohorski Battalion Oplotnica to the Salama pizzeria, where we go left and then immediately right, so we bypass the pizzeria on the right side.
The path ahead starts to visibly ascend on a narrower asphalt road that leads us past occasional houses; when we arrive in the Lačna Gora settlement, a nice view also opens up on Oplotnica and the surrounding hills.
Higher, at the cross, the signs for Črno jezero lake direct us right, where we go past the last house, behind which we continue the ascent on a macadam road, from it we soon go left into the forest on 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 us through the forest, then across a scenic grassy section, where we temporarily descend a little.
When in Kebelj village we reach the asphalt road, we cross it diagonally to the right, then go left in the direction of Črno jezero lake, bypassing the nearby house on the right side. There follow a few minutes of scenic ascent across the grassy slope; when we step for a few paces to the end of the asphalt road, a path joins from the right with a starting point by the cemetery in Kebelj village.
We continue straight on the marked cart track, which before entering the forest turns right and continues along the edge of the forest; from the mentioned 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 the Kebelj settlement joins from the right.
Here we go left and quickly arrive at the ruins of Kebelj or Zajčev Castle.
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 the asphalt road along which we continue turns right, to the left a path branches off towards Osankarica (Kebelj transverzala path). We leave the asphalt road a little further, where the signs for Črno jezero lake direct us left into the forest. There follows a short ascent through the forest, then past numerous pieces of litter we reach the nearby homestead (from the opposite direction there is also a warning about a fierce 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 edge of the forest; higher, past the house, we step back onto the asphalt road that brings us to the next marked junction.
We continue right in the direction of Three Kings and Črno jezero lake (left Črno jezero lake - path past Kos) and continue along the road to the junction near the NOB monument.
From the junction we go right towards the access road, at the dead-end sign we go left onto the marked footpath that continues through the forest. There follows about 20 minutes of ascent through the forest where we follow the marks, then we reach a road that we follow for some 10 steps to the right, where we arrive at Hotel Jakec, above which is the church of St. Three Kings.
From the church of St. Three Kings we continue in the direction of Črno jezero lake and Urškina pot, where we soon arrive at the edge of the nearby ski slope of RTC Jakec - Three Kings ski center. The path ahead first leads along the edge of the forest, just a few meters from the ski slope; higher we cross the ski slope to the right (during ski slope operation we cross the ski slope above the lift). On the other side of the ski slope the path goes slightly right and leads us under the accumulation lake.
A little behind the lake we arrive at the connecting ski slope along which we continue the ascent (during ski slope operation we walk along the far left edge of the ski slope); when a few minutes higher we reach another ski slope where the marked path to Črno jezero lake crosses the ski slope, we continue along the left edge where there are also signs for Urškina pot. There follow a few more minutes of steeper ascent and with ever better views we arrive at the benches on Veliki vrh, from where a nice view opens onto Pohorje and the valley.
From here we can continue another some 10 m into the forest, where the highest point of the peak is located.
Oplotnica - St. Mohor 0:45, St. Mohor - Zajčev Castle 0:40, Zajčev Castle - St. Three Kings 1:20, St. Three Kings - Veliki vrh 0:30.
The description and pictures refer to the condition in January and April 2022.

Along the route: Lačna Gora (516m), Sveti Mohor (Lačna Gora) (602m), Kebelj castle (Castle Zajec) (813m), Nadgrad (851m), Sveti Trije kralji (1181m)

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