Podlanišče - Ermanovec

Access to starting point:
A) First, we drive to Gorenja vas in Poljanska dolina valley (to here from Škofja Loka, new bypass road which bypasses Škofja Loka, Horjul or Polhov Gradec), and then we continue driving towards Žiri and Cerkno. After the settlement Trebija and just before the bridge over Poljanska Sora, we leave the main road towards Žiri and continue driving right in the direction of Cerkno. Further on, we drive on a somewhat more winding road, on which we quickly arrive at the settlement Sovodenj. From Sovodenj we continue slightly right, and we continue to follow the ascending road to the settlement Podlanišče or pass Kladje, where we park at a suitable spot by the pass.
B) We drive to Žiri (to here from Vrhnika or Logatec), and then we continue driving towards Škofja Loka. Before the settlement Trebija we turn left, onto the road in the direction of Cerkno. Further on, we drive on a somewhat more winding road, on which we quickly arrive at the settlement Sovodenj. From Sovodenj we continue slightly right, and we continue to follow the ascending road to the settlement Podlanišče or pass Kladje, where we park at a suitable spot by the pass.
C) We drive to Cerkno, and from there we continue driving in the direction of Škofja Loka. Further on, we drive on an ascending road which, through Planina pri Cerknem on a winding road, brings us to pass Kladje, where we park at a suitable spot by the road.

Path description:
From the pass Kladje at Podlanišče we continue eastwards along the road towards Ermanovec. The road first ascends past a few houses, then we arrive at the spot where the marked path to Škofje branches left, and we continue along the road. The road continues briefly through the forest, then alternately across hay meadows and again through the forest, bypassing a few individual houses. Higher up, in the area called Laniška ravan, the path from Franja Hospital joins from the left (also the path from Cerkno - path through Planina pri Cerknem and path from Škofje), and just a little further, at the smaller hamlet, we continue slightly left onto the road towards the hiking trail to Ermanovec. Along the macadam road, in a few dozen steps we ascend to a panoramic ridge, where the signs for Ermanovec direct us slightly right onto a cart track, along which we quickly ascend to the forest. We continue through the forest, following the blazes at junctions, and the path takes us to the fortifications of the former Rapallo border, where the path flattens. A little further we step out of the forest, then walk in a gentle descent to the asphalt road that we left a while ago, reaching it through the yard of the nearby house.
When we step onto the road we continue towards Ermanovec; the path first leads us past an information board (Rapallo border trail), a little further past an old chapel, behind which a marked path from Kopačnica also joins from the left.
We continue straight and in a few minutes arrive at the Koča na Ermanovcu hut.
From the hut we continue straight (left Štor 5 minutes), at the first junction where the path to the Žunar farm branches right, straight again. We walk along the road for a few more minutes, then from the junction at the chapel and bell continue slightly right onto the cart track towards the Ermanovec summit (straight along the road to Hotavlje and Slajka, right also along the road to Sovodenj), along which we begin gently ascending the panoramic ridge. When the cart track turns slightly right, we continue slightly left onto a footpath that ascends across a somewhat steeper grassy slope directly towards the summit. A little below the summit the path flattens and brings us into the forest, where the Ermanovec summit is located.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in 2016 (January).

On the way: Koča na Ermanovcu mountain hut (968m)

Trip can be extended to: Štor