Ribniška koča - Rogla (via Lovrenška jezera)

Access to starting point:
A) From the road Maribor - Dravograd, before the settlement Brezno we turn left in the direction of Podvelka, Ribnica na Pohorju and Ribniška koča. After the bridge over the river Drava we arrive in Podvelka, but we continue to follow the road in the direction of Ribnica na Pohorju. After approximately 10 km from the bridge over the Drava we arrive at the centre of Ribnica na Pohorju, where we go left. There follows approximately 8 km of ascent, mostly on a macadam road, to the mountain hut Ribniška koča, where we park.
B) From Dravograd we drive towards Maribor, after Radlje ob Dravi at the roundabout we leave the main road towards Maribor and continue driving in the direction towards Vuhred, Ribnica na Pohorju and Ribniška koča. After the bridge over the river Drava we arrive in Vuhred, but we continue to follow the road in the direction of Ribnica na Pohorju. After approximately 10 km from the bridge over the Drava we arrive at the centre of Ribnica na Pohorju, where we go right. There follows approximately 8 km of ascent, mostly on a macadam road, to the mountain hut Ribniška koča, where we park.

Path description:
From Ribniška koča we head onto the path in the direction of Jezerski vrh and Ribniško jezero and initially walk along the road by which we arrived at the starting point and which leads us in a gentle descent to the saddle between Mali Črni vrh and Jezerski vrh. At the saddle, where parking is also possible, we leave the road and head onto the marked footpath, which first ascends gently, then more steeply to the monument on Jezerski vrh, which we reach in approximately 10 minutes of increasingly panoramic ascent.
From Jezerski vrh we continue slightly left in the direction of Lovrenška jezera and Rogla (left Ribniško jezero 5 minutes) and begin to descend through thin forest. Soon a path joins us from the left that leads past Ribniško jezero, but we continue first with a still moderate descent through thin forest, then pass into dense forest, and the path descends a little more steeply. During the descent a short path branches off to the left to the memorial for the deceased pilots, but we continue the descent to the saddle Šiklarica. After the saddle we start ascending again, at a few smaller junctions we follow the blazes. A little further we pass a spring, after it we ascend quite steeply for a few minutes. Higher the path flattens and takes us from the forest onto the meadow Planinka, across which we ascend mostly gently to moderately with ever better views. Higher the path turns right and shortly afterwards another path from Lovrenc na Pohorju joins us from the left. There follows some more traversing with nice views, then the path enters thin forest, where it runs below the plateau of Lovrenška jezera, consequently crossing a larger number of small streams. After a few minutes of traversing we arrive at a marked junction, where we continue left in the direction of Lovrenška jezera and Rogla (slightly right Rogla - path that bypasses Lovrenška jezera) and start ascending on wooden duckboards. After a few minutes of ascent we join the eastern path from Rogla, but we go left and quickly arrive at the lookout tower at Lovrenška jezera.
From the tower a nice view opens towards the plateau where the small lakes are located, from the tower we continue on wooden duckboards that take us through the dwarf pines to the lakes.
From the lakes we return to the last junction and continue in the direction of Rogla and Koča na Pesku.
Follows a descent through partly thin forest, where we first mostly walk on wooden duckboards, lower on a cart track that with some shorter ascents and descents crosses the slopes to the left. During the traversing the path also leads us over some streams, on the gentle section we arrive at a marked junction, from which we continue straight in the direction of Rogla (left downhill Koča na Pesku and Mašin žaga). There follows some more easy traversing and we arrive at the saddle Komisija, where we join the path that bypasses Lovrenška jezera.
We continue straight towards Rogla and ascend in a moderate ascent onto the indistinct summit of Ostruščica.
From Ostruščica we continue in the direction of Rogla, but the path further leads us along a poorer road, which in winter is converted into a cross-country ski trail (when the cross-country ski trail is prepared we walk on the parallel walking path), a little lower the path leads us along a pleasant grassy path. After a few minutes we reach an asphalt road, which we follow to the left, but when we arrive below the 4-seater chairlift we continue right, then walk to the upper station of the mentioned cable car, from where we descend in a few steps to the large parking lot near hotel Planja.
From the parking lot we continue along the road towards Koča na Pesku. The road first leads between the football pitch on the left and the church on the right. As soon as the pitch ends we leave the road and continue slightly left along the initially parallel mountain path. The path further leads past the NOB monument, after which we gradually enter thin spruce forest. There follow some junctions, where we follow the signs for the tower on Rogla. A fairly gentle path that runs along the route of the winter cross-country ski trail brings us after approximately 15 minutes of walking from hotel Planja to the summit of Rogla, where a 30-metre-high lookout tower stands.
If there is no danger of thunderstorms, we can climb the mentioned tower at our own risk, from which a nice view opens over a larger part of Pohorje, and with good visibility also onto the Karawanks, Kamnik Savinja Alps and Triglav.
Ribniška koča - Jezerski vrh 0:15, Jezerski vrh - Lovrenška jezera 1:50, Lovrenška jezera - Ostruščica 1:10, Ostruščica - hotel Planja 15 minutes, hotel Planja - Rogla 15 minutes.

On the way: Jezerski vrh (1537m), Preval Šiklarica (1300m), Lovrenška jezera (1520m), Sedlo Komisija (1446m), Ostruščica (1498m), Hotel Planja (1474m)