Zgornje Poljčane - Rančka

Access to starting point:
a) From the Ljubljana - Maribor highway, we take the Slovenske Konjice exit, then follow the signs for Žiče, and in Žiče, we turn left towards Poljčane. We continue driving through Loče and Zbelovo to Poljčane, where we turn right, cross the Dravinja river, and arrive in Zgornje Poljčane, where we turn left towards the cemetery and park.
b) From the Maribor - Ljubljana highway, we take the Slovenska Bistrica south exit, then follow the signs for Poljčane and Rogaška Slatina. After Poljane, we cross the Dravinja river, then arrive in Zgornje Poljčane, where we turn left towards the cemetery and park.

Path description:
From the cemetery we continue towards the west, where we walk along Prvomajski trg street, then carefully cross the main road and continue walking along Partizanska ulica street, where we pass a nursery. Zgornje Poljčane then end, and we continue for some time near the Dravinja river, then the blazes before the chapel direct us left onto a side road which turns sharply to the left and starts to ascend steeply. Higher up, we pass several houses, and at a few smaller crossroads we follow the blazes. Higher up, the blazes from the road direct us right onto a cart track which ascends transversely through the forest, then levels out and subsequently descends slightly. Lower down, we leave the forest and continue across a scenic meadow to the spot where a marked but unmarked path branches off sharply to the left to Rančka.
We continue towards Rančka (straight to Ljubična gora) and continue the ascent along the cart track, which higher up levels out and shortly afterwards descends briefly to a small saddle, where we go left towards Rančka. A few minutes of steep ascent along the cart track follow, which higher up turns into a footpath, along which we quickly reach the logbook box on Rančka, and the highest point is located a little further ahead on a fairly overgrown section.
Description and pictures refer to conditions in April 2024.