Srednja vas - Koča na Uskovnici (Za Ribnico)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana - Jesenice motorway, take the Lesce exit and follow the road towards Bled and further towards Bohinjska Bistrica. Just before Bohinjska Bistrica, at the settlement of Bitnje, continue sharply right towards Pokljuka. After a short ascent, the road levels out and quickly brings us to the Upper Bohinj Valley. At the intersection here, continue left (right Pokljuka) and follow the road further to Srednja vas. In the second part of the village, notice the signs for the church of St. Martin, which direct us right onto a narrower and fairly steep road, along which we quickly arrive at the church and primary school. Park at a suitable place next to the school or church.

Route description:
From the parking lot at the church, we descend a few steps to the primary school, from there continue in the direction of the viewpoint at Kres. The path ahead leads along a narrower asphalt road, along which we quickly reach a larger water reservoir, where we notice signs for Uskovnica. We continue along the track, which enters the forest; at the right bend, we temporarily step out of the forest and a nice view opens to Rudnica and part of the Upper Bohinj Valley. We continue along the track, which takes us through a somewhat narrower passage, then in a traversing ascent to the point where we reach the road to Uskovnica. We reach the road exactly at the nicely arranged viewpoint at Kres, from which a view opens towards Srednja vas, the Upper Bohinj Valley, and the Lower Bohinj Mountains in the background, now named Bohinj-Tolmin Mountains. We continue along the road for a short time, then at the end of a gentle left bend, signs for Uskovnica direct us right onto a track that leads through the forest, a belt of shrubs, and higher up again through the forest. A few minutes higher, we reach the gravel road again, but this time leave it immediately, as we continue in the direction of the hiking trail to Uskovnica. The track soon forks, and we take the left one, where we notice the trail marker on the power line pole. For a while, we continue along the power line and follow the markers. Soon, a path branches left to Uskovnica via Lom; we continue on the path that turns slightly right and leads onto the steep slopes of the area called Za Ribnico (Ribnica is the stream deep below us). Higher up, we reach a newer track or logging trail and follow it right. The newer logging trail ends after a few minutes, but the path continues traversing the slopes to the right. A bit further, at a small junction, we continue on the left upper path, which has signs for Uskovnica and is visibly better trodden. Continuing, we ascend somewhat more steeply along the path, from which a bit higher an unmarked path branches towards Lom (the sign reads "cheese, cottage cheese, milk and more").
We continue towards Uskovnica again, then in a few minutes reach the gravel road (we join it where it is already closed to public traffic) and follow it right. Upon stepping onto the road, we join the path from Stara Fužina, the path from Srednja vas via Lom, and the path from the starting point or parking lot Lom. The gentle gravel road quickly brings us to the weekend houses at Uskovnica, then we leave it shortly after the water trough and continue left onto the track towards Koča na Uskovnici. After about 50 meters of ascent along the track, we reach Koča na Uskovnici; from there, we can continue past the hummocky meadows to the chapel about five minutes away, from which a nice view opens.
Description and photos refer to the situation in 2015 (July).

Along the route: Razgledišče na Kresu (619m)

The trip can be extended to the following destinations: Planina Zajamniki, Planina Konjščica (1 h 10 min), Planina pod Mišelj vrhom (2 h 55 min), Velo polje (3 h 35 min), Vodnikov dom (3 h 20 min), Ablanca, Jezerski Stog, Viševnik, Mali Draški vrh (3 h 15 min), Vernar (4 h 35 min), Veliki Draški vrh, Tosc (4 h 5 min), Dom Valentina Staniča, Dom Planika (4 h 50 min), Triglavski dom na Kredarici, Triglav (6 h 5 min)

We recommend: trips from the same starting point, similar trips, panorama, summit register