Otočec - Sveta Marija (Trška Gora)

Access to the starting point:
a) From the Ljubljana - Obrežje motorway, take the Novo mesto - East exit, then continue driving towards Otočec. Continue along the old road towards Brežice, then quickly reach the crossroads, where you turn right towards the settlement of Lešnica. After Lešnica we arrive at Otočec, and we drive to the other side of the settlement, where we park in the parking lot next to the cemetery.
b) From the Obrežje - Ljubljana motorway, take the Kronovo exit (exit 28), then continue driving towards the Otočec castle. Also from the nearby roundabout, continue in the direction of the exit for Castle Otočec. Continue along the old road towards Novo mesto, then turn right after the Petrol station in the familiar direction. There are two successive crossroads where you go left twice, then right after the underpass in the direction of Otočec (left Castle Otočec). There is about 1 km of driving and then you arrive at Otočec, where you park in the parking lot next to the cemetery.

Path description:
From the starting point, continue past the church and continue along the road for some time in the direction of Novo mesto. Soon you will reach a chapel, where the road to Ratež and Gumberk branches off to the left, and then at the next crossroads, some 10 steps away, continue to the right past the NOB memorial. Continue through the underpass, then on the other side of the underpass continue left (Paha and Herinja vas on the right). At the next crossroads continue right, then walk past the Hočevar confectioner's shop, past the Otočec primary school and along the fields to reach the end of Otočec and a few steps further on to an unmarked crossroads.
From this crossroads, turn left (straight through the underpass under the motorway Castle Stari grad above Otočec and Trška Gora past the Old Castle) and follow the pavement down to the nearby crossroads, where you turn right in the direction of Črešnjice and Jelš pri Otočcu. After the crossroads, the road leads you through an underpass under the motorway, and then you walk along meadows and fields. You quickly reach the village of Jelše pri Otočcu, where the road starts to climb gently to moderately. When the settlement ends, you will quickly reach Črešnjice, where at the marked crossroads continue left in the direction of Trška Gora. Continue climbing steeply for some time, part of the way along the Slaka Trail. Slightly higher up, at the part where the road bends, a path branches off to the right to the Teropšič cottage, the Slakova cesta continues in the same direction, and we continue slightly to the left along a slightly wider road (to climb up to the church of St. A scenic walk between vineyards, with views of Žumberačka gora and the Krka valley, leads to the beginning of the village of Trška Gora, where you continue right along the main road. At the beginning of the village, the road continues to climb and then there is a short descent, from where a beautiful view of the vineyards and the Church of St. Mary opens up.
At the crossroads behind Krka's hram, continue straight ahead, and then, a little further on, join the marked path from Novo mesto.
Continue straight ahead and you will have a beautiful view of Novo mesto, Mirna Gora and Gače. The way ahead leads us along an increasingly steep road, which turns into a macadam road higher up, and we quickly reach the Church of St Mary on Trška Gora. Description and figures refer to the situation in 2016 (June).

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