Rute (Zavrh) / Bärental - Mačenski vrh / Matschacher Gupf (via 668)

Access to starting point:
A) Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, then continue on the motorway towards Beljak, which we leave at the first exit. From the point where we left the motorway, we follow the signs for the village Šentjakob v Rožu / Sankt Jakob im Rosental. When we arrive in the mentioned village, we drive along the main road past Podgorje / Maria Elend and the settlement Sveče / Suetschach to the village Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental, where before the Billa and Penny stores we turn right in the direction of the Rute / Bärental valley. About 100 m after we leave the main road, we continue left, then drive on a somewhat narrower and ascending asphalt road to the parking lot, where a macadam road branches off to the right towards the church of St. Michael, the grave of the former Carinthian provincial governor Jörg Haider and the homesteads Štefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroad, which is situated about 100 meters before Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".
B) Through the Ljubelj border crossing, we drive into Austria, where along the main road towards Celovec / Klagenfurt am Wörthersee we drive to the second roundabout, from which we continue driving in the direction of the Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental exit (we leave the main road towards Celovec before we cross the Drava River). In the mentioned settlement, immediately after the Billa and Penny stores, we turn left onto the road in the direction of the Rute / Bärental valley. About 100 m after we leave the main road, we continue left again, then drive on a somewhat narrower and ascending asphalt road to the parking lot, where a macadam road branches off to the right towards the church of St. Michael, the grave of the former Carinthian provincial governor Jörg Haider and the homesteads Štefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroad, which is situated about 100 meters before Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".
C) From Dravograd or Slovenj Gradec, we drive to Ravne na Koroškem, then continue driving towards the Holmec border crossing. When we enter Austria, we first drive towards Pliberk / Bleiburg, then follow the signs for Globasnica / Globasnitz and further Železna Kapla / Bad Eisenkappel, Borovlje / Ferlach. After Borovlje, at the roundabout we join the road via the Ljubelj border crossing. Here, at the first roundabout we continue towards Celovec / Klagenfurt, at the second towards Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental. In the mentioned settlement, immediately after the Billa and Penny stores, we turn left onto the road in the direction of the Rute / Bärental valley. About 100 m after we leave the main road, we continue left again, then drive on a somewhat narrower and ascending asphalt road to the parking lot, where a macadam road branches off to the right towards the church of St. Michael, the grave of the former Carinthian provincial governor Jörg Haider and the homesteads Štefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroad, which is situated about 100 meters before Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".

Path description:
From the parking lot, we go slightly right onto the road, along which there are signs "Zur Gedenkstätte". The road immediately starts to ascend and turns right. We quickly arrive at a junction from which we continue right (the left road leads to the homestead Žnidar / Schneider), then we quickly ascend to the next junction, where we continue left (straight: newer church of St. Michael in Rute / St. Michael (Bärental) and the grave of the former Carinthian provincial governor Jörg Haider - 1 minute).
We continue ascending along the macadam road, from which a nice view temporarily opens onto Mačenski vrh / Matschacher Gupf. A few minutes higher, we arrive at hayfields and a junction, next to which there is a wooden sign, and we continue straight towards the nearby homestead Plavc / Plautz, first mentioned in 1490. On the mentioned section, looking back, a nice view opens onto the highest peaks of the Karawanks, and shortly after the homestead we arrive at a marked junction.
We continue right in the direction of Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental (left: Mačenski vrh via the saddle Mrzla raven / Gipssattel, path 669) and continue further along the macadam road, which splits at the crossing of the pasture fence.
We continue slightly left (slightly right: old church of St. Michael, 3 minutes) and ascend transversely across the panoramic slope. The road a little higher makes a left serpentine, a few 10 steps further we leave it and continue right into the forest on the marked path 668. Further on, we mainly ascend through the forest, during the ascent crossing the forest road 3 times, or rather the first and third time staying on it for some time. After the last road crossing, the path moves onto the eastern to southeastern ridge of Mačenski vrh, where it begins to ascend steeply. For quite some time we steeply ascend along the forested ridge, then the forest begins to thin and beautiful views start to open towards Stol and the surrounding mountains, occasionally also a nice view towards the north. A little higher we finally step out of the forest, the path, to which the path via the saddle Mrzla raven joins, levels out. A few more 10 steps of easy walking follow, and the path brings us to the cross on Mačenski vrh.
Starting point - Plavc 40 minutes, Plavc - Mačenski vrh 1:35.
Description and pictures refer to the situation in 2018 (June).

On the way: Sv. Mihael (Rute (Zavrh)) / St. Michael (Bärental) (982m), Plavc / Plautz (1130m)