Ortnek - Grmada on Mala gora

Access to starting point:
A) From Ljubljana, we drive towards Kočevje, but only to the settlement Ortnek. In the mentioned settlement, right after the Okrepčevalnica Vinija snack bar, the road branches off to the right towards the settlement Sv. Gregor. Immediately after the crossroad, we park in a suitable place by the road. The parking lot in front of the snack bar is intended for guests.
B) From Ribnica or Sodražica, we drive to the settlement Žlebič, and from there we continue driving in the direction of Ljubljana, but only to the settlement Ortnek. In the mentioned settlement, before the Okrepčevalnica Vinija snack bar, the road branches off to the left towards the settlement Sv. Gregor. Just before the crossroad, we park in a suitable place by the road (the suitable place is on the opposite side of the road). The parking lot in front of the snack bar is intended for guests.

Route description:
From the crossroad at the Okrepčevalnica Vinija snack bar we first carefully cross the main road, and then we walk a few 10 steps in the direction of Ribnica. When we get to the crossroad, where the road branches off to the left towards the settlement Velike Poljane and Grmada, we leave the main road and continue on the mentioned local road. After a few 10 meters of additional walking, we cross the stream and behind it at the smaller crossroad we continue right in the direction of the hamlet Dule. Towards the mentioned hamlet we do not walk long, because the signs for Grmada, still before the nearby house, lead us left onto a somewhat steeper macadam road, on which we continue the ascent. After a few minutes the forest through which we walk ends and in front of us we notice the church and settlement Velike Poljane.
A little before the church we step on the asphalt road, and on it we start ascending through the village. On several crossroads we follow the signs towards Grmada, then the settlement ends and nice views open up, which reach all the way to the Julian Alps with the highest Triglav. When the road passes into a smaller valley, we get to the spot where the signs for Grmada direct us left onto a macadam road (straight - Grmada on the asphalt road and Stene Svete Ane). From the macadam road a dead-end road soon branches off to the left, we continue slightly to the right, which starts to ascend somewhat more steeply. During the ascent on the quite panoramic road, a view opens up once again towards the Julian Alps, and towards the southwest a nice view also opens up towards Snežnik. Higher the road becomes asphalt, the marked path turns slightly to the left from it and after a few 10 steps joins the "main road".
We follow the road to the left, which takes us past a somewhat larger chapel to the settlement Vrh pri Poljanah. After the short settlement, on a larger parking lot the asphalt ends, and we continue on the macadam road, on which in a few minutes we arrive at the Turistični dom na Grmadi, from where a nice view opens up also towards the southeast and south.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in the year 2015 (April).

Along the route: Velike Poljane (616m)

The trip can be extended to the following destinations: Koča pri Sveti Ani on Mala gora, Stene svete Ane

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