Fram - Mariborska koča (via Hotel Zarja)

Access to the starting point:
Leave the Štajerska motorway at exit Fram and follow the signs for Fram. When you reach the main road Slovenska Bistrica - Maribor, continue straight ahead from the semaphoreised intersection into the centre of Fram. Continue through the village and when you reach the parking lot under the parish church of St. Anne, park in the parking lot in the centre of the village.

Path description:
From the starting point, follow the road that passes the Church of St Anne on the left and is marked Ruška koča na Arehu (Maribor cottage on the right). When the road turns right a little further on, we continue straight on to a side road where we pass the cemetery. At the upper part of the cemetery, the path splits and we can continue on the marked path, which initially passes by the cemetery, then turns right and joins the cart track, where we merge with the path if we continue right at the cemetery on the cart track in the direction of the water spring "Zlati studenec" (Golden spring).
From the confluence of the two paths, continue for about one minute and you will reach the Zlati studenec water spring, where there is an information board.
Continue on the marked path which leads out of the forest and a few steps further to an asphalt road, which you follow up to the right, passing the nearby chapel on the left. With beautiful views, we continue past a few more houses, and then the signs for Areh direct us to the right, and a little further on we go left, again towards Areh. The road changes a little further on to cart track, which climbs crosswise through the forest, and higher up you reach a small junction of asphalt roads. Continue on a marked side road, which climbs gently at first and then begins to descend. The road soon stops descending, and after the crossing, turn slightly left off the road onto the marked cart track, which leads you alongside a nearby farm. Behind the farm we first get a nice view towards Boč, then the path goes into the woods, and we continue to climb for a few minutes crosswise, then cross a meadow, and return to the woods at the hunting observation post. We walk through the forest for a short time, then reach a larger grassy area where the path turns left. After the grassy area, return to the road, where the path leads past two tourist farms, and after them turn right onto a waymarked path (straight Sveti Križ), which crosses the lane of the forest, and then returns to the road. Follow the road to the right, and at the nearby crossroads take the road on the left. Continue along the road for a few minutes, and when the road makes a long right turn, turn left off the road onto a waymarked path that climbs alongside a power line. At a higher level, you reach a narrow asphalt road, where you go right, and at a junction with a priority road, go left. The way ahead leads past a small hamlet, then the road returns to the forest, where signs soon direct you to the right on a footpath towards Areh. Follow the signs through the forest at a number of crossroads, and the path leads you first past a cross, and then higher up past the NOB memorial, near which there is another cross.
Here you will also reach an asphalt road, which you quickly leave and continue right into the forest, following the signs at the crossroads, and higher up you will reach the main asphalt road and follow it to the left.
Follow the main road to a crossroads where the road to Hotel Zarja branches off to the right.
Continue right along the marked road in the direction of Hotel Zarja (slightly left along the Areh footpath) and after a few minutes of cross-country climbing you will reach the hotel.
Go around the hotel on the lower side, and on the eastern side of the hotel take the path towards Maribor hut. Continue on the cart track, which leads through the forest, and cross-climb the south-eastern slopes of Sedovec Peak (1231 m). At a higher altitude, we reach the marked path connecting Mariborska koča and Ruška koča na Arehu, and we follow the worse road to the right. The road then gradually descends and after a few minutes we reach a marked crossroads where we continue down to the right and follow the wider dirt road (Pečke to the left, straight ahead the lookout tower. Go down the road for a few minutes, and at the crossroads continue straight ahead, and when the road becomes asphalt, go right down the road onto the marked trail, which quickly descends to the Maribor hut.
Fram - Zlati studenec 0:10, Zlati studenec - Hotel Zarja 3:20, Hotel Zarja - Maribor hut 0:45.
Description and pictures refer to March 2022.

On the way: Water source Zlati studenec (375m), Planinski dom Zarja (Hotel Zarja) (1113m)

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