Skalnica - Vodice (path through trenches)

Access to starting point:
A) We drive to Nova Gorica, then continue driving towards Tolmin and Kobarid. We follow the main road towards Tolmin only to Solkan, where at the traffic-light intersection we continue right in the direction of Sveta Gora and Grgar. The ascending road further leads past the Solkan quarry, then a little higher it turns sharply to the right and brings us to the Skalnica inn, behind which we continue slightly left in the direction of Sveta Gora. Further on, we drive on a narrower asphalt road, alongside which we park in an appropriate place by the road (best before the first cross, which we will notice on the left side of the road).
B) From Tolmin or Most na Soči we drive on the main road towards Nova Gorica, then only a little before Nova Gorica, more precisely at the traffic-light intersection in Solkan, we turn left in the direction of Sveta Gora and Grgar. The ascending road further leads past the Solkan quarry, then a little higher it turns sharply to the right and brings us to the Skalnica inn, behind which we continue slightly left in the direction of Sveta Gora. Further on, we drive on a narrower asphalt road, alongside which we park in an appropriate place by the road (best before the first cross, which we will notice on the left side of the road).
C) From Goriška Brda we drive to Solkan, where at the first intersection after the new Solkan bridge we continue straight in the direction of Sveta Gora. The ascending road further leads past the Solkan quarry, then a little higher it turns sharply to the right and brings us to the Skalnica inn, behind which we continue slightly left in the direction of Sveta Gora. Further on, we drive on a narrower asphalt road, alongside which we park in an appropriate place by the road (best before the first cross, which we will notice on the left side of the road).

Path description:
From the place where we parked, we first walk to the first cross, from there we continue slightly left on the marked footpath that leads to Sveta Gora. After about 50 meters from the cross we come to a smaller junction, where we continue right on the path through the trenches (straight to Sveta Gora - easy path).
The path through the trenches splits again just a few meters further on, and we continue right into the cavern (slightly left path that bypasses the first and second cavern). Further on, a headlamp will be useful, as well as a helmet due to the occasionally low ceiling and the danger of falling rocks. On the other side of the first cavern, the path turns slightly left and ascends moderately through the forest. Higher up we arrive at the second cavern, which is relatively short. When we exit it, we return to the path that bypassed the first two caverns and which is a few minutes shorter.
Further on, the path becomes steeper, leading us along and beside the former military trenches. A little higher we arrive at a nice viewpoint, which is only a few steps from the path (from the viewpoint there is a nice view of both Solkan bridges, Nova Gorica and Sabotin). Above the viewpoint the path levels out, then approaches the asphalt road leading to Sveta Gora completely.
At the place where we approach the road completely, we notice the entrance to the third 260-meter-long cavern. Here we put on the helmet and headlamp again and descend into the cavern, which is also indicated by the mark above its entrance. The path through the cavern is initially quite slippery and relatively steep, since in addition to the thick steel cable, pegs assist us at several places. Higher up, the path or cavern levels out, and all safety gear also ends. A few more minutes of walking follow, and the path brings us out of the cavern, where we join the path from Grgar.
Here we continue right and continue the ascent on the path that ascends transversely through the forest. Further on, the path leads past a few more smaller caverns, then temporarily ascends a bit more steeply and brings us to Frančiškov hrib, from which a nice view opens up.
From Frančiškov hrib we continue along the wide ridge path, along which in about 5 minutes of further walking we arrive at the cemetery and a few 10 meters further to the summit of Sveta Gora.
We mostly bypass the church, restaurant and other buildings on the right side, then continue right downhill on the stairs, by which we descend to the nearby parking lot.
From the parking lot we continue along the road in the direction of Vodice and the bridle path of the three shrines (signposts are located a little above the parking lot, more precisely at the nearby intersection), which loses its asphalt surface and descends moderately. Further on, the road mostly descends through low forest, but nevertheless occasionally a nice view opens towards Krn and the surrounding mountains. After about 150 meters of descent we arrive at a small pass called Preški vrh, where several forest roads intersect.
From the pass we continue straight on the worse ascending road towards Vodice, which we leave just a few 10 steps further on, as the marks lead us left onto the marked footpath. The path ahead returns to the low forest, then continues in a moderate ascent. Further on, the path leads past several trenches and a few caverns from the time of the First World War, then temporarily ascends somewhat more steeply. The steepness eases very quickly, and a relatively gentle path brings us out of the forest onto an overgrown meadow, from which we can already see the summit of Vodice, on which stands the mausoleum of General Gonzaga, and which we reach after a few 10 steps of further walking.

On the way: Frančiškov hrib (632m), Sveta Gora (681m), Preški vrh (503m)