Šmartno na Pohorju - Source of Polskava (via Bojtina)

Access to starting point:
We leave the Štajerska motorway at the exit Slovenska Bistrica south or north (depending on which direction we come from), and then we drive into the centre of Slovenska Bistrica, from where we head on the road in the direction of the settlement Šmartno na Pohorju. There follow a few kilometres of ascent, and we follow the road in the direction of the mentioned settlement. When we arrive at Šmartno na Pohorju, we park on a smaller arranged parking lot next to the cemetery and the church of St. Martin.

Path description:
From the parking lot in a few steps we walk to the main road which leads through the settlement, and we follow it to the right, where the blazes also point us. For a short time, we walk through the centre of the settlement, then with nice views we walk to a smaller crossroad, at a somewhat larger chapel.
Here we continue straight (right - Ruška koča na Arehu - path via Frajhajm) and a few minutes further we arrive at the next marked crossroad, from which we also continue straight (left - Sv. Trije kralji) and we moderately ascend past individual houses and guesthouse Dovnik. Next follows crossing a strip of forest, then we descend a little to a crossroad, where we continue right towards Areh and Bojtina.
After the crossroad, the road descends even more, and we go from it slightly right onto a parallel mountain path, which continues descending. Lower, the path levels out and past a newer and an older building brings us back to the road, which we follow to the right. Along the road over the bridge we cross a stream and also go past a cross, after the cross a path branches off to the right towards Šetorov mlin, to which it is a good 5 minutes' walk.
We continue along the road and ascend more steeply, along the road we walk to the right bend, in the middle of which we go straight onto a marked cart track, which then ascends diagonally through the forest. Higher we first approach the road, a little further, at the sign, we also return to the road. Next follows walking along an increasingly panoramic section, from where a view opens towards the nearby church of St. Ursula, and still before reaching the church, at the first left bend we leave the road and continue straight on a marked path, which crosses a grassy slope. Next follow a few junctions, where we follow the blazes, we cross a strip of forest and then continue across the grassy slope. When the crossing with a few shorter ascents and descents ends, the blazes direct us right downwards, where we soon reach another cart track, which we follow to the left. Next follows some easy ascent, then we go again right downwards, where along the path we continue to two successive streams and cross them over two small bridges. After the second small bridge we start ascending again, at the junctions we follow the blazes, higher we step out of the forest and near a smaller wooden hut we reach a poorer road, which we follow to the right. We walk along the road for a few minutes, then at the beginning of dense forest we continue left into the forest, where we continue along a somewhat steeper path. After a few minutes of ascent we reach a wider macadam road, which we follow to the right, and along it we walk to the crossroad, where we reach an asphalt road.
We continue left, opposite the nearby hut we go right onto a marked cart track, which returns into the forest and then ascends diagonally to an asphalt road, which we merely cross. We continue the moderate ascent through the forest and in a few minutes we arrive at a marked junction, from which we continue left in the direction of the spring of Polskava (right - Ruška koča na Arehu 10 minutes).
After the junction we descend slightly to the left, soon we go sharply left from the cart track and along a short path we quickly descend to the spring of Polskava.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in January 2022.

On the way: Bojtina (858m)