Škofja Loka - Divja Loka Castle (Stari grad) (The three castles path)

Access to the starting point:
From Ljubljana, Kranj or Gorenjska vas, drive to Škofja Loka and park in one of the car parks near the old town centre or Loško Castle.

Path description:
The themed circular route is very well marked with images of black cairn (spiders). The choice of colour is not the best, because the markings are mostly drawn on trees and you have to look carefully to avoid missing them.

The trail officially starts in front of the entrance to the castle complex of Loško Castle, which can be reached by a footpath from the southern end of the central Town Square or from the parallel Klobovsova Street. Instead of entering the complex, continue up the originally asphalted Castle Path outside the castle walls. Shortly after a right turn, the asphalt runs out and several paths branch off to the left. Take the last of these and after a few metres you will come to a corral and a gate where a sign informs you that you are entering a pasture area and asks you to close the gate behind you. From the gate, continue up the beaten track steeply and soon reach the ruins of the tower at Kranclju.

From the ruins, continue westwards and immediately leave the pasture area through a new gate. Keep to the main path (keep "straight ahead" at any forks), initially through the forest. When the wood runs clear, follow the beaten track down across the meadow to cart track, where you turn left. Cart track soon leads to a small hamlet which, judging by the house numbers, is officially a "dislocated unit" of Vincari. At the crossroads in the hamlet, obey the sign on the rubbish bin and continue straight ahead. Cart track climbs gently and soon reaches a forest. In the forest, the path climbs for a while and then drops down at the Kobila Pass until it reaches the 180 degree serpentine of the asphalted road between Podpulfrca and Gabrovo. This place also serves as the starting point of the route to Lubnik, so the edge of the road also serves as a parking area.

Walk along the edge of the most winding part of the road for a few metres and on the right you will see a marked trail to several mountain destinations, including our trail. If you follow the black man, you will walk for some time on a relatively level path, otherwise up a rather steep slope. As we follow it around the ravine, we eventually leave the forest and immediately find ourselves at a new crossroads.

To reach Divja Loka Castle on the overgrown peak just ahead, go straight ahead (follow the sign for "Old Castle" or where the forward and back arrows are drawn next to our cairn). The path is initially packed with coarse stones and is not yet too steep. Suddenly it turns into a very narrow and steep "goat track" between the rocks, which requires a lot of care and a sense of balance. After a few steep turns, you reach the ruins of the castle, which are unfortunately surrounded by forest, so there is no possibility of a view. As there is no other option, we return to the aforementioned fork along the same path.

If you do not wish to return along the same path, turn right at the fork (signposted "Path of the Three Castles"). The path soon leads to a new fork, where you turn right and descend along a rather broken forest road to the bottom of the ravine. Here, at a new fork, turn right again and join another forest road, which is slightly more comfortable to walk on, provided there is no mud. From here on, the gravel road turns left after a while and soon you reach Vincarje, which is in fact almost a suburb of Škofja Loka. When you reach an asphalt road in the village, turn right and walk through the village. There is a new fork near a small RTP. Straight ahead we would reach the western parts of Škofja Loka, and to the right the road past the LTH Castings factory and along the embankment of the Selška Sora River soon leads to the Kapucinski (or Stone) Bridge, where the entrance to Škofjelojelo's Old Town is located.

On the way: Loški Grad (348m), Krancelj (453m)

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