Žetale - Maceljska gora

Access to starting point:
We leave the Podravska motorway at the Zakl exit and then follow the signs for Žetale. When we arrive in Žetale, we turn left at the municipal building and park on the well-maintained asphalt parking lot. We can also park on the parking lot at the primary school.

Path description:
From the place where we have parked, we first walk to the signposts and information boards, which are located on the opposite side of the main road from the primary school, and from there we head onto a grassy cart track in the direction of the Sotla spring and the forest educational trail K debeli bukvi. The cart track first leads below the church of St. Michael and below the cemetery, then a less distinct path turns right to the Rogatnica stream, which we cross over a wooden bridge. After the bridge, the path turns left and ascends into the forest, where the path becomes easier to follow. There follows an ascent through the forest, where we follow the signs in the shape of yellow mushrooms (yellow mushrooms are the signs of the forest educational trail) and the signs for the Sotla spring, and the path leads us past a few information boards of the mentioned trail.
When higher at the 6th point of the educational trail we reach the forest road, the path to the Sotla spring branches off to the left from the mentioned trail.
The forest educational trail continues along the road to the right, while we follow the road to the left. There follows some crossing to the left and from the left another path from Žetale joins us, which is marked with yellow directional signs and leads towards the MMP Gruškovje and Sv. Avguštin. We continue the crossing for a short time, then the road forks. We continue slightly right along the upper road, which after a few minutes of ascent turns sharply to the right. Higher up we go right again (sharply left paragliding take-off site Macelj), then along a poorer road we continue crossing to the right. We walk along the road to the place where the signs for the Sotla spring direct us left onto a trail that steeply ascends above the road. Since the otherwise arranged turn-off from the road is already worn out and unmaintained, there is mainly in wet conditions a greater risk of slipping. We then ascend diagonally for a few minutes through the forest along a still quite steep slope, then cross a cart track. The place where we leave the cart track is also steeper, and we continue to follow the signs for the Sotla spring. There follows a shorter steep ascent along an unmaintained path and we reach the ridge of Macelj, which we reach at a smaller saddle west of Maceljska gora, where a wooden bench stands.
We continue left and continue walking along the state border (straight down Sotla spring 5 minutes). Further on, we walk on pathless terrain and along the ridge of Macelj. In a few minutes we arrive at the western subpeak of Maceljska gora, and a few minutes further on at Maceljska gora.
The description and pictures refer to the condition in January 2023.