REKS - Rekreacijsko kulturno središče Ravne - Vrholanov vrh (Ravne pri Šoštanju) (Ravenska pot)

Access to the starting point:
a) From the route of Maribor, take the motorway to the Arja vas exit, where you turn right in the direction of Velenje or Slovenj Gradec. Drive through Veliko Pirešica, Črnová and Vinská Gora to Velenje, where you continue straight past the Gorenje factory in the direction of Šoštanj. A little after Velenje, at the roundabout, turn towards Šoštanj, at the Thermoelectric power station turn onto the bridge and drive through the centre of Šoštanj, where you stick to the main road. A little out of Šoštanj, turn right at the crossroads in the direction of Ravne pri Šoštanju or Gaberke (straight ahead towards Črna na Koroškem). At the next crossroads (straight ahead, a shop with building materials), you will reach the village of Ravne pri Šoštanju, where you continue to the right and drive past the village to a sharp bend where there is a turn-off on the left for the former Pod klancem (Kotnik) guest house. Turn left here and follow the narrow road to the starting point (REKS - Recreational Cultural Centre Ravne).

b) From the direction of Ljubljana, take the motorway to the Šentrupert exit, where you can already see signs for Topolšica. Then drive through Preserje, Male Braslovče and Letuš towards Šmartné ob Paki. From here, continue to the village of Gorenje, where you turn right onto the main road to Velenje. Shortly before Velenje, at the roundabout, turn towards Šoštanj, at the Thermoelectric power station turn onto the bridge and drive through the centre of Šoštanj, where you stick to the main road. A little out of Šoštanj, turn right at the crossroads in the direction of Ravne pri Šoštanju or Gaberke (straight ahead towards Črna na Koroškem). At the next crossroads (straight ahead, a shop with building materials) you will reach the village of Ravne pri Šoštanju, where you continue to the right and drive past the village to a sharp bend where there is a turn-off on the left for the former Pod klancem (Kotnik) guest house (formerly the Kotnik Inn). Turn left here and follow the narrow road to the starting point (REKS - Recreational Cultural Centre Ravne).

Path description:
The Ravenska Trail is a circular trail on the outskirts of the village of Ravne near Šoštanj. It is about 16 km long and can be walked in 4 hours. The whole trail is well looked after by the Šoštanj Mountaineering Association and the Ravne Sports Association. There are 4 checkpoints with stamps on the trail and it is well marked and marked along the whole route. On 25 June, National Day, a traditional hike takes place along this route. The views of Šoštanj and Uršlja Gora accompany us all the way.

The trail starts at REKS (Recreational Cultural Centre Ravne), where there is a sports ground with a picnic area and a large parking lot. Above REKS, continue along the road into the forest and follow the road, which soon leads to the first Puc farm in the hamlet of Pristava. From here, follow the asphalt road for a few metres, where a path soon branches off to the left at the edge of the forest. Follow this path, which soon leads to the next asphalt road, where you turn right and follow it for a few metres to a crossroads where it joins the neighbouring Gaberška krožna pot. Turn left at the crossroads and follow the asphalted road past the houses and farms (follow the signs Vrholanov vrh or Abidnik). Shortly after the large sign with the farms on Pristavi, turn left onto the path through the forest, or follow the asphalt road past the Apat Tourist Farm. The path rejoins the asphalt road and passes by individual farms to a junction with a large signpost. Here, follow the road right uphill (towards Vrholanov vrh), soon reaching a bench in the shade of a large cherry tree with a beautiful view of the Šaleška valley. Still follow the asphalted road, which climbs moderately. At the end of the road, two cart track branches off. We take the right-hand one and soon come to a meadow below the ruins of Forhtenek Castle (a checkpoint with a stamp). If you want to see the ruins, take the narrow path to the right of the checkpoint and climb steeply up to the remains of the tower, from which you have a nice view of Šoštanj. When climbing, be careful of the precipitous terrain. Continue on the level path to the left of the memorial into the forest, through which I follow the forest road for some time, which begins to descend towards the end. On the right side of the path is the hilly settlement of Razbor, above the valley of the Velunja stream, which divides the settlements of Ravne and Razbor, or the municipalities of Šoštanj and Slovenj Gradec. At the fork in the forest path, go left and soon the path starts to climb steeply again towards Vrholan Peak, which is also the highest point of the path. There is a checkpoint with a stamp at the top, and it offers a beautiful view of the Šaleška Valley to the south and Uršlja Gora to the west. From the top of Vrholanov, descend steeply along a narrow path that descends steeply through the forest. Soon you reach a crossroads of three roads, where you head straight ahead. Follow the road for some time until it branches off to the right onto a steep track through the forest (direction Abidnik). When the steepness subsides, walk along the ridge path for a while, which becomes wider and wider and is surrounded by mighty beech trees. Before a steep descent, turn right to a viewing platform with a view of Uršlja Gora and the secluded farms of Razbor village. From here we rejoin the cart track along the ridge, which at the end starts to descend strongly and leads us to a macadam road. Here turn right along the road and follow it for some time until the dirt road forks off to the left. Follow cart track through the woods and two meadows where hunting blinds have been set up. From the last meadow, the track climbs steeply through the forest and soon reaches the Abidnik farm, where there is again a checkpoint with a stamp. From Abidnik, follow the asphalted road down to the first bend where a track branches off into the forest. Follow the track as it descends past a pasture and some woods to an asphalted road, which descends for some time past farms. Follow the road straight through all the junctions to a narrow macadam driveway to one of the houses. Here the path passes through a courtyard and soon disappears first into the woods and then continues for some time through meadows and pastures to a waterhole where it splits. We take the left-hand track through the woods and soon rejoin the tarmac road, which descends past the farms alongside. When you reach the main road, turn right at the Nula bar and follow the main road to the Poštajner building materials shop. Here you will reach the crossroads of the roads Šoštanj - Ravne and Ravne - Topolšica. At the crossroads, go left and walk along the main road for some time, also passing the road turnoff to Ravne, to a sharp bend where the road to the former guesthouse Pod klancem (Kotnik) branches off to the left. Follow this road and after a few 100 m reach our starting point at REKS, where we find the control stamp.

On the way: REKS - Rekreacijsko kulturno središče Ravne (380m), Športno igrišče Ravne (380m), Turistična kmetija Apat (560m), Razvaline gradu Forhtenek (680m), Vrholanov vrh (710m), Podvelanški vrh (692m), Kmetija Abidnik (700m)

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