Podgrad - Debenji vrh

Access to starting point:
From the eastern Ljubljana bypass, we take the exit Ljubljana - east and continue driving on Zaloška cesta in the direction of Zalog. Further, we drive on the main road towards Podgrad. In the settlement Podgrad, we turn right through the underpass under the railway track and then continue on a relatively narrow road in the direction towards Besnica and Janče. A little before the end of the settlement Podgrad, we park on the parking lot on the left side of the road. If the parking lot is occupied, we can turn right here onto the cart track by the information board and cross the stream over a small wooden bridge. There is then some space for parking.

Route description:
From the parking lot, we first cross the main road and past the information board which describes the Ostrovrharjeva pot, we head onto the cart track and over the small wooden bridge we cross the stream Besnica. The cart track turns to the left and brings us to a crossroads where there is also the sign for Ostrovrharjeva pot.
At the crossroads, we continue sharply right where the mentioned sign also directs us. The path here runs along the cart track and climbs quite steeply through the forest. Occasionally, a bit of a view opens up towards the settlement Podgrad. From our path, a poorer cart track branches off to the left upwards, but we continue straight to the sharp left bend where a marked path from Podgrad joins from the right.
Here we continue left upwards along the cart track, which in the right bend brings us again to a junction. Here we leave the cart track leading to the nearby castle Osterberg or villa Kansky and head left onto the footpath where the sign for Ostrovrharjeva pot also directs us. After a short steep ascent, we reach the ridge where there is also an information board describing the (new) castle Osterberg. Access to the castle itself is forbidden (private property).
We continue left along the forested ridge and the path leads us past another information board where during the Second World War the border between Italy and Germany ran. Further on, the path continues through the forest mostly towards the south and later brings us to a junction.
Here we must pay a bit more attention as the junction is poorly marked. Over a distance of about 10 meters, two paths branch off to the right, and at the second there is also a small sign saying Zalog. We take one of the mentioned paths, which after just a few meters brings us to the ridge where there is another junction and a bench.
This time we continue left along the ridge; to the right downwards leads the path towards Zalog.
The path then runs for some time a little left of the ridge and soon brings us back to the ridge where the »Trda varianta« from Zalog joins from the right.
Further, the path runs along the forested ridge, rising and falling slightly a few times. Occasionally, a small view opens up through the forest, mainly towards Ljubljana. We continue along the ridge and from the left the path from the old castle Osterberg joins. A somewhat steeper ascent follows where we will notice a cross or chapel in the hollow trunk of a tree by the path. The path then brings us to the summit, in the middle of which stands a wooden lookout tower.

Along the route: Grad Osterberg (318m)

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