Pila - Sljeme (via Horvatove stube and via Hunjke and Puntijarke)

Access to the starting point:
Leave the Macelj - Zagreb motorway at the Zabok exit and continue towards Donja Stubica. In Stubičke Toplice you will see signs for Pila and the top of Sljeme. Follow this road to the entrance of the Medvednica National Nature Park, where there is a large parking lot.

Path description:
From the parking lot we return a little back in the direction of Stubičkih Toplice, but after about 50 metres we will notice a small bridge and the entrance to the forest (the path starts right at the sign marking the beginning or end of the village of Pila). The way forward leads us through the pine forest to the next small bridge, and after it our path starts to climb steeply.
We climb the usual muddy logging trail and walk through a mixed forest. After a few minutes, the path flattens out and logging trail widens into a wide cart track.
Higher up, cart track gradually becomes steeper again and after about 45 minutes' walk from the starting point, you reach a shelter by a cross where you can rest.
At the shelter there is also a crossroads, where you go right on the sloping cart track (to the left there is a path that bypasses Horvat's Stubbs). Continue walking on the sloping path, and when you reach the place where you cross the Bistri Jarek stream, it is time to say goodbye to cart track and go sharply left uphill.
Soon we reach the well-maintained and very pretty resting place Srnec. From here on begins the most interesting part of our route.
We cross the stream again and go on, this time to the north. Here the trail seems to get lost, but it only passes onto an exposed cliff above the stream, where the beginning of the steps of Horvat's Stube is also located. (They were made by the Zagreb mountaineer and journalist Vladimir Horvat. His aim was to bring this completely unknown area closer to other people. ) At the exit of the cave there is also a crossroads, where you go up to the left, (to the right, a short descent to the Mala Pećina cave). This part of the trail is challenging, helped by a few wedges and a rope ladder.
From the crossroads we go up, our path winding along the cliff. We are helped by a few ropes, which come in handy especially in the wet. The way ahead leads us to an interesting natural hole in the rock, Tisin ponor. Just beyond the sink is another fork a few metres away, the My Slope lookout, where we get a view to the north.
The path over the rocks becomes easier later on. At the end of the stairs there is another lookout point, and at the very exit there is Patuljk's Cave.
The stairs then take you through a spruce forest, and the path soon leads to meadows. A little further on, we get quite close to the road leading to the top, and we are joined on the left by a variant that bypasses the stairs (when it is wet I recommend going down this path), and we go slightly left up (right, the path that bypasses Hunjko and Puntijarko).
The path ahead leads us to steep meadows, where the view back opens up to a beautiful vista. When we return to the forest, we are already close to the once extremely important Hunjka Pass. The way forward soon leads us to the Obrtnik mountain home (the home has been closed for a long time) and the Hunjka restaurant, which is open. Many mountaineers finish their climb here, and we continue along the ridge, initially past the benches.
The path ahead is initially gentle, but then climbs slightly steeper to the Mijatovac meadow. Here the markings are more sparse, but if you keep to the left southern edge of the meadow there is nothing to miss. Higher up, we reach Puntijarko and the Pačkovski mountain hut, where we can also have refreshments. The way ahead touches the road and continues northwards.
After a few minutes, we reach the asphalt, where the path leads us past the Snježna kraljica hotel, past a small TV tower, where the asphalt ends, past the Sljemenska kapelica church and finally to the mountain crossroads above the Činovničko livado.
From here, continue west on a steeper path, cross the ski slope and in a few minutes you are at the top of Sljemena, where there is a huge TV tower. A little further on, by the Vidikovac restaurant, we get a spectacular view to the north.

On the way: Zavetišče pri križu (590m), Odmorišče Srnec (650m), Preval Hunjka (853m), Puntijarka (957m)

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