Rimske Toplice (Šmarjeta) - Koča na Kopitniku (via Lurd)

Access to starting point:
A) From the Ljubljana - Maribor highway, we take the Celje - center exit, then continue driving towards Laško and later Rimske Toplice. At the beginning of the settlement Rimske Toplice, we turn right towards Hrastnik, but we drive along the main road towards Hrastnik only about 50 m, then turn left onto a local road, along which we quickly arrive at the nearby cemetery, next to which we park on the marked parking lot.
B) From Zasavje, we first drive to Hrastnik, then continue driving towards Celje. When we arrive in Rimske Toplice, we will be only 50 m before the main intersection, where the road joins the main road Celje - Zidani Most, and turn right onto a local road, along which we quickly arrive at the nearby cemetery, next to which we park on the marked parking lot.
C) From the direction of Posavje, we first drive to Zidani Most, then continue driving towards Celje. When we arrive in Rimske Toplice, we pay attention, as at the end of the settlement a road will branch off to the left leading towards Hrastnik. We direct ourselves onto the mentioned road, but drive along it only about 50 m, then turn left onto a local road, along which we quickly arrive at the nearby cemetery, next to which we park on the marked parking lot.

Route description:
From the parking lot by the cemetery, we continue on the road towards the south. Already after a few 10 m, the priority road turns left, and we continue straight towards Lurd. We continue on a somewhat narrower road, and during the walk on the right side we constantly clearly see the church of the Holy Mother of God in Ogeči (Lurd), past which the path will lead us higher up.
At the next intersection, we continue slightly left, then just a few steps further at the chapel right upwards. Here we quickly arrive at a smaller triangular intersection, by which there are numerous hiking signposts. We continue right in the direction of Kopitnik and Lurd and continue the ascent on the asphalt road, which ascends transversally towards the right. Higher the settlement ends, and the road turns into the forest. Here another path from Šmarjeta joins us from the right, the road turns somewhat more to the right and brings us to the church of the Holy Mother of God (Lurd).
Just a little above the church, we leave the asphalt road and continue left in the direction of Kopitnik. From the road the path first ascends steeply, then levels out and crosses a short relatively steep slope. The slope quickly levels out, and the path brings us from the forest to the edge of a hay meadow, where it turns left to the abandoned house. On the other side of the house we arrive at a smaller intersection, where we continue straight in the direction of Kopitnik. We walk along the road for just a few minutes, then the blazes direct us slightly right onto a marked cart track that ascends parallel to the road. The cart track quickly levels out and returns to the road at the older house. From the house we ascend to a smaller saddle, then at two consecutive junctions we continue left. Further on we ascend along a steeper forest path, which higher joins the cart track, which completely levels out and brings us from the forest to a larger grassy clearing. Here the path turns somewhat to the left and returns to the forest, through which it then occasionally ascends more steeply again. Higher we also ascend over a grassy hay meadow and the path brings us to a macadam road, where we join the other path from Rimske Toplice (starting point Tuš store and Rimske terme).
We continue along the gentle road, along which we walk to the homestead Pri Izeri. At the homestead the road becomes asphalt, and we walk along it only a few meters, then the inscription on the tree "koča" directs us left into the forest. Further we ascend briefly through the forest, then join the path from the villages Marno and Turje. From the junction onwards we step out of the forest, and the gentle path continuing across a larger meadow brings us to the Koča na Kopitniku in a few minutes.

Along the route: Lurd (300m)

The trip can be extended to the following destinations: Kopitnik ( 20 min)

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