Šmartno na Pohorju - Veliki vrh (on Pohorje)

Access to starting point:
We leave the Štajerska motorway at the Slovenska Bistrica south or north exit (depending on which direction we are coming from), 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. A few kilometres of ascent follow, and we follow the road in the direction of the mentioned settlement. When we arrive at Šmartno na Pohorju, we park on a smaller well-maintained parking lot by the cemetery and the church of St. Martin.

Route 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 direct us. For a short time, we walk through the centre of the settlement, then with nice views we walk to a smaller crossroads by a somewhat larger chapel.
Here we continue straight (right Ruška koča na Arehu - path over Frajhajm) and a few minutes further we arrive at the next marked crossroads, from which we continue left towards the Three Kings (straight Ruška koča na Arehu). We bypass the nearby houses on the left side, then continue along the pasture. Further, we descend lightly on a poorer road; when the road turns sharply left, we continue straight on the path that goes into the forest. The path ahead leads us past a trough with water, then Knafelc blazes direct us to the left (straight guesthouse Dovnik). A little further, over a small bridge, we cross the Devina stream, and we follow the blazes. A short steep ascent follows, then the path flattens somewhat and leads us out of the forest, where we cross the meadow diagonally to the right. Higher, at the edge of the forest, we reach a cart track that brings us to the lower pond in Ošelju.
We bypass the mentioned pond on the right side and on a poorer road in two minutes we also reach the upper pond in Ošelju.
We bypass the upper pond on the left side, just a little further we reach an asphalt road, where we go right in the direction of the Three Kings and Oplotnica. We continue past a few more houses, then go left (straight and after a few metres right Areh), where we pass a farm onto a meadow. While walking through the meadow, a beautiful view opens up on Boč and Veliki vrh; when we reach the forest, we then quickly reach a pond.
We bypass the upper pond on the left side, just a little further we reach an asphalt road, where we go right in the direction of the Three Kings and Oplotnica. We continue past a few more houses, then go left (straight and after a few metres right Areh), where we pass a farm onto a meadow. While walking through the meadow, a beautiful view opens up on Boč and Veliki vrh; when we reach the forest, we then quickly reach a pond.
We bypass the mentioned pond on the left side, then continue on the path that in a few minutes brings us to a macadam road, which we follow to the left. The road quickly leads us out of the forest, and we descend along it to a marked junction by the bridge over the Bistrica.
A little before the bridge, an abandoned path branches off to the right, leading past the Jesenek farm towards the Three Kings; just before the bridge, a marked path through Bistriški Vintgar joins from the left, but we continue straight over the bridge to a smaller crossroads, where we go right towards the Three Kings (straight sv. Urh).
An ascent follows towards the Močnik farm, before the farm we go right onto a cart track that initially ascends gently through the forest. A little higher, we join another cart track, and higher at several junctions we follow the blazes. Further, we go past a trough with water, then at a small crossroads we reach an asphalt road, which we just cross.
This time too we continue in the direction of the Three Kings, a little further an abandoned path joins quite unnoticeably from the right, leading past the Jesenek homestead. Some ascent through the forest follows, then we merge with the path leading over Velika Tinje.
We continue straight, where a few minutes of light to moderate ascent follow, then we already arrive at Hotel Jakec, above which is the church of the Three Kings.
From the church of the Three Kings we continue in the direction of Črno jezero and Urškina pot, where we quickly arrive at the edge of the nearby ski slope of the ski centre RTC Jakec - Trije kralji. The path ahead first leads along the edge of the forest, just a few metres from the ski centre, higher we cross the ski slope to the right (during ski centre operation we cross the ski slope above the drag lift). On the other side of the ski slope the path goes somewhat to the right and leads us under the reservoir lake.
A little behind the lake we arrive at the connecting ski slope, along which we continue the ascent (during ski centre operation we walk along the far left edge of the ski slope), when a few minutes higher we reach another ski slope, where the marked path to Črno jezero crosses the ski slope, we continue along the left edge, where there are also signs for Urškina pot. A few minutes of steeper ascent follow, and with increasingly beautiful views we arrive at the benches on Veliki vrh, from where a nice view opens up on Pohorje and the valley.
From here we can continue a further 10 m into the forest, where the highest point of the peak is located.
Starting point - Ošelju ponds 0:35, Ošelju ponds - pond west of Ošelju 0:10, pond west of Ošelju - Three Kings 1:30, Three Kings - Veliki vrh 0:30.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in January 2022 and May 2023.

Along the route: Ribnika Devin v Ošelju (812m), Ribnik zahodno od Ošelja (824m), Sveti Trije kralji (1181m)

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