Sviščaki - Snežnik (by road)

Access to starting point:
A) From Cerknica or Nova vas na Blokah we first drive to Bloška Polica, from there we continue driving in the direction of Lož and Babno Polje. In the settlement Pudob we turn right in the direction of Snežnik, Ilirska Bistrica, Knežak and nearby settlement Kozarišče. In Kozarišče we continue slightly left in the direction of Snežnik and also in the next crossroads we follow the road in the direction of Snežnik. When Kozarišče ends, the asphalt also ends, and we immediately after the bridge over Mali Obrh continue left in the direction of Mašun and Knežak. There follows a long drive on a macadam road, after approximately 19 km from Kozarišče we arrive at a crossroad, where from the right the road from Mašun joins. Here we continue left in the direction of Sviščaki, to which we have approximately 10 km of macadam, at crossroads we follow the signs for Sviščaki. After approximately 29 km of macadam road we arrive at the mountain hut Planinski dom na Sviščakih, where we park.
B) We drive to Pivka, from there we continue driving towards Knežak. In Knežak at the marked crossroad we continue left in the direction of Mašun and settlements Bač and Koritnice. A little further we go right in the direction of Mašun and Koritnice (straight Bač). After Koritnice the road starts to ascend more noticeably, then after 18 km from the main crossroad in Knežak it brings us to Mašun, from where we continue driving right in the direction of Sviščaki, to which we have approximately 12 km of macadam road. When we arrive at the mountain hut Planinski dom na Sviščakih we park.
C) First we drive to Ilirska Bistrica, then we continue driving towards Sviščaki (the turn-off is in the middle of Ilirska Bistrica and is marked, perhaps a little less noticeable). At first we ascend on an asphalt road, then after roughly 12 km of ascent asphalt is replaced by macadam. There follows approximately 7 km of macadam, then we arrive at a crossroad in the immediate vicinity of the mountain hut Planinski dom na Sviščakih, where we continue straight towards the nearby mountain hut, where we park.

Path description:
On the opposite side of the road from the mountain hut Planinski dom na Sviščakih, we notice signposts for Snežnik and Pogled na Snežnik, which direct us onto a macadam road that continues without changes in altitude across a meadow. On the other side of the meadow the path leads past a water catchment, behind it the path turns slightly left into the forest, through which it moderately ascends for a while. After a short ascent we reach another road, which we follow to the right, along it past some holiday cottages we arrive at a wider macadam road, which we then follow to the left (right is the main road Ilirska Bistrica - Sviščaki). There follows an easy ascent along the wider macadam road, along which we continue the path, and along it in approximately 10 minutes we arrive at a marked junction, where to the left branches the path to the viewpoint "Pogled na Snežnik", to the right continues the marked footpath that leads to Snežnik.
We continue along the road that still leads us through the forest, along it past an abyss we quickly arrive at a marked crossroad below Lom, which is located at 1330 meters above sea level.
Here too we continue straight (along the right road we can join the previously mentioned footpath or continue to the hunting cottage in Travni dolci, from there too it is possible to ascend to Snežnik, but the path is not marked) in the direction of Snežnik along the road. Higher a little view opens up temporarily, then we arrive at the next crossroad (in descriptions starting point Snežniška Grda jama), where we continue along the upper right road (slightly left Mali Snežnik and Snežnik via Mali Snežnik). A few minutes higher, on a small saddle, the footpath from Sviščaki joins from the right, where the driving road also ends.
We continue the path along a worse road, which soon turns sharply to the left, then in a transverse ascent turns increasingly to the right. While ascending along the mentioned road increasingly beautiful views begin to open up for us, which extend from the nearby Mali Snežnik, across Notranjska and Primorska all the way to the Dolomites. When the road turns a little more to the right, it ends at the nearby turning area.
From the end of the road, where some benches are placed, a nice view of Veliki Snežnik opens up for us, and we continue along a wide marked path that continues through dwarf pines. There follows a transverse ascent to the right, and from the path increasingly beautiful views open up for us, which extend across Gorski Kotar all the way to Velebit, nicely visible are also the Kvarner islands, Učka, etc. Higher the path enters an indistinct little valley between both Snežniks, where first to the left branches Matetova pot, higher from the right also joins the path from Grda draga and Mašun (both paths lead over Mali Snežnik).
At both junctions we continue along the right path, and approximately 5 minutes of transverse ascent over a somewhat steeper slope separate us from the shelter on Veliki Snežnik, where in snow there is a greater risk of slipping.
When we reach the shelter, in front of it we continue left and in one minute of further walking we ascend to the highest non-Alpine peak in Slovenia, from which a view opens up on all sides.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in 2015 (October).

On the way: Križišče pod Lomom (1330m), Kapetanova bajta (1460m), Obračališče (1564m)