Potoče - Planinska koča Iskra na Jakobu (via Francijeva koča)

Access to starting point:
A) From the highway Ljubljana - Jesenice, take the exit Kranj - east, then continue driving in the direction of Jezersko. When we arrive in Preddvor, leave the main road and continue driving left, then after a few tens of meters, opposite the company Jelovica, continue right in the direction of the village Potoče, St. Jakob and Potoška gora and lake Črnava. Further on, the road leads us through the settlement Hrib, above which we arrive at a crossroads, where we continue straight (left Hotel Bor and lake Črnava, right Senior Citizens' Home Preddvor). There follows about 100 m of gentle ascent to the chapel, where the road turns right, we drive along it past a few more houses, then before the Senior Citizens' Home we turn left onto a larger macadam parking lot.
B) From the highway Jesenice - Ljubljana, take the exit Kranj - west and at the first crossroads continue left. Further on, we drive through the underpass under the highway, then arrive at a roundabout, from which we continue driving in the direction of Golnik. The route further leads us through the settlement Mlaka pri Kranju, and at the end of the settlement we continue right in the direction of the settlement Srakovlje. There follows driving through Srakovlje, Spodnja Bela, Srednja Bela to Zgornja Bela, where we continue right towards Preddvor. At the end of Preddvor, just a few tens of meters before the road joins the main road Zgornje Jezersko - Kranj, we continue left in the direction of the village Potoče, St. Jakob and Potoška gora and lake Črnava. Further on, the road leads us through the settlement Hrib, above which we arrive at a crossroads, where we continue straight (left Hotel Bor and lake Črnava, right Senior Citizens' Home Preddvor). There follows about 100 m of gentle ascent to the chapel, where the road turns right, we drive along it past a few more houses, then before the Senior Citizens' Home we turn left onto a larger macadam parking lot.

Path description:
A few steps before the start of the parking lot, at the fence of the Senior Citizens' Home Preddvor, we will notice hiking signposts, and we head onto the path in the direction of Senčnica Josipine Turnograjske. The path starts at the already mentioned fence, then continues through the forest. Through the forest we ascend quite steeply for a few minutes, then the path levels out and brings us to Senčnica Josipine Turnograjske, where there is also a logbook box with a logbook.
From the top, a short descent follows along the forest path, then we reach a forest road, which we follow to the left, along which we descend gently for a short time. Soon we reach another wider road (the road that leads from the parking lot near the Senior Citizens' Home Preddvor and bypasses Senčnica Josipine Turnograjske), which we cross slightly to the left, where at the entrance to the forest we notice red hiking signposts (to here also possible via the previously mentioned road).
We continue in the direction of the ruins of Novi grad (Pusti grad) and the footpath towards sv. Jakob and Potoška gora. The path ahead ascends moderately through the forested valley, then splits into two parts.
We continue slightly right in the direction of sv. Jakob, Potoška gora and Javorov vrh (left Novi grad (Pusti grad) and Juhantova pot) along the path that gradually veers further to the right from the valley. The marked path, which occasionally ascends more steeply, further on crosses the forest road several times, which leads towards sv. Jakob, Planinska koča pri Franciju and Planinska koča Iskra na Jakobu. Higher up, at the red sign, we step onto the road again and continue left along it. After a few tens of meters, a path branches off slightly to the right towards Planinska koča Iskra na Jakobu, while we continue straight along the poorer road, to which Juhantova pot joins a bit further on. We continue along the road, which soon brings us to Planinska koča pri Franciju.
From the hut, we return a few steps to the nearby junction, from there we continue along the marked hiking path in the direction of Planinska koča Iskra na Jakobu. The path ahead leads us through a short stretch of forest, then with nice views we reach the already mentioned mountain hut.

On the way: Senčnica Josipine Turnograjske (570m), Planinska koča pri Franciju mountain hut (930m)

Trip can be extended to: Mihčeva kopišča ( 25 min) , Baba ( 50 min) , Potoška gora ( 40 min) , Zavetišče v Hudičevem borštu (2 h 20 min) , Javorov vrh , Dom na Kališču (3 h 40 min) , Cjanovca (3 h 10 min) , Srednji vrh (3 h 25 min)