Sveti Križ (Planica) - Planinski dom Zarja (Hotel Zarja)

Access to starting point:
We leave the Štajerska motorway at the Fram exit and follow the signs for Fram. When we reach the main road Slovenska Bistrica - Maribor, from the traffic-light intersection we continue straight and drive into the centre of Fram. We continue through the settlement, and when we arrive at the parking lot below the parish church of St. Anne, we continue on the left road so that we bypass the church on the left side. A little further at the cemetery we go right, and then we begin to ascend more steeply. Higher up we arrive at the settlement Kopivnik, but we continue following the road towards the settlement Planica, where we follow the signs for the church of the Holy Cross, next to which we park.

Route description:
On the northeastern side of the church, left of the playground we notice a cart track, on which we start. After a few steps, we continue slightly left (on the right path we descend to the asphalt road by which we arrived at the starting point) and then ascend transversely through the forest for a few minutes. When we leave the forest, we pass from the slope into a smaller valley, but we continue along the left edge of the pasture and ascend next to it to an asphalt road, where we reach the marked path Fram - Ruška koča na Arehu and follow it to the left.
We continue along the road for a short time, and when the road makes a longer right bend we go left from the road onto the marked path, which ascends beside the power lines. Higher, we reach a narrower asphalt road, where we go right, and at the intersection with the priority road we go left. The path ahead leads us past a smaller hamlet, then the road returns to the forest, where soon the markings direct us right onto the footpath towards Areh. Through the forest at numerous junctions we follow the markings, and the path first leads past a cross, higher also past the NOB monument, near which there is another cross.
Here we also step onto an asphalt road, which we quickly leave and continue right into the forest, where at junctions we follow the markings, and higher we reach the main asphalt road and follow it to the left.
Along the main road we walk to an intersection, where to the right a road branches off towards Hotel Zarja.
We continue right along the marked road in the direction of Hotel Zarja (slightly left along the Areh footpath) and in a few minutes of transverse ascent we arrive at the mentioned hotel.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in March 2022.

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