Gornje Retje - Koča pri Sveti Ani on Mala gora (via Grmada)

Access to the starting point:
From Ljubljana, drive to Kočevje or vice versa. Just about a kilometre after (from Kočevje before) Veliki Lašče, you will reach a crossroads, where you turn left towards the village of Gornje Retje (from Kočevje, right). The road then takes you over a narrow overpass over the railway line to a crossroads, where you continue to the right. After a short climb, the road quickly leads to Gornje Retij, where a sign directs you left up a steep road. Follow the steep asphalted road for about 100 m to a place where you will notice a yellow mountain sign with the inscription Grmada, which directs you to a worse macadam road, along which you can then park (you can also park under the village near the containers for separate waste collection, but in such a way that you do not hinder the eventual collection of waste).

Path description:
From the starting point, continue in the direction of Grmada along the deteriorating road, which turns into cart track higher up. Cart track changes from forest to extensive meadows higher up, over which the route continues without any significant change in elevation. The path then goes into a short lane of woodland, where it descends slightly, crosses a dirt road and ascends on the other side towards a small hamlet. Shortly before the hamlet, the path turns right and continues climbing gently along the upper side of the next meadow. The pleasant path soon crosses another short lane of woodland, after which it passes onto uncultivated slopes from which a view opens up towards Grmada. A gentle ascent takes you over a grassy slope, then the path dips into the forest again, where you cross the next forest road in a gentle descent. The path then re-emerges from the forest and continues along the wide, partly rocky cart track, which turns quite to the right at the hunting observation post. The markings then direct us to the left onto a slightly steeper grassy slope, which we follow up to the edge of the forest, where we join the path from Kamen vrh on our left.
Continue on the marked path, which goes slightly further left into the forest and follow it in a moderate slope to the top of Grmada, or to the Dom na Grmadi, a few steps away.
At the house, you will see signs for St. Anne, which will direct you to a macadam road that begins to descend towards the small village of Vrh pri Poljanah. Before you reach the houses in the village, the road becomes asphalted, and then, after the houses, you reach a small crossroads by a large brick chapel.
Continue straight ahead on the asphalt road (the left road, or lower mountain path, can lead to Podgora or Podpeč), from which a marked footpath soon branches off to the right towards Ortnek, and this time we continue straight ahead on the descending road, which also leads towards the village of Ortnek. With views of the surrounding hills and, in good visibility, also of Snežnik, we quickly reach a right turn where we continue straight on the marked cart track in the direction of St. Anne. Cart track or a little further on, the footpath gradually turns into a forest and crosses the slopes of Vrbovec. After a few minutes, you will reach another cart track, which you can follow in the direction of St. Anne, and walk along it for a short distance, as the marked path soon turns slightly to the right (this part is not the best marked). Walk through the forest for a few minutes, then follow the second cart track down to the macadam road, which you follow to the left (Veliki Poljane and Ortnek on the right).
From the place where you get on the road, continue the cross-country climb through the forest for some time, and then arrive at a slightly larger crossroads where you continue straight on in the direction of Sv. Anna (you can take the road sharp left to reach Kompolje or Rapljeva). There are a few minutes of gentle to moderate climbing, and then the trail begins to descend behind the indistinct pass between the peaks of Tisovec (931 m) and Špičnik (926 m). A descent of a few minutes follows, and then the signs for Sv. Anna direct us left onto a slightly less good road which begins to climb steeply (the wider road we leave leads towards Ribnica). Walk along the ascending road for a few minutes, and then the signs lead us slightly more to the right onto a marked footpath which continues through the forest. After a few minutes, when the path has completely flattened out, you will reach cart track and follow it to the left, where you walk along the edge of a small valley where, in spring, the hellebores grow.
Somewhere in the middle of the valley, the relatively well-marked path turns right and passes onto the slopes of the summit of Sten St. Anna. Climb relatively steeply for a few minutes to the right, and then the signs for Sv. Ana with cart track direct you sharp left onto a slightly steeper footpath. A relatively steep climb follows, and then after a few minutes the path lays down and in a few further steps leads us to a place where a short path branches off to the left, leading to a nearby viewpoint.
From the viewpoint, we return to the aforementioned crossroads, and from there we continue in the direction of Sv. Ana. A short crossing follows, and then a path from Struge joins us from the left, and a few steps further on, a path branches off to the right to the top of Sten Sv. Anna (directly Koča pri sv. Ani na Mali gori).
From the crossroads, it is a one-minute walk to the summit, where the geodesic tower is located.
From the top, descend some 10 steps to the last crossroads, and from there continue in the direction of St. Anna, along a path that gradually begins to descend gently. The path slowly widens into the cart track, which will take you in just over 10 minutes to reach the Cottage at St. Anne's on Mali Gora.
For a nice view, it is worth a walk to the nearby church, from where you can look out towards Ribnica and Velika Gora.

Gornje Retje - Grmada 1:40, Grmada - Stene sv. Ane 2:20, Stene sv. Ane - Koča pri sv. Ani na Mali gori 15 minutes.

On the way: Grmada na Mali gori (887m), Stene svete Ane (964m)

We recommend: similar trips, panorama, Inscription book