Rute (Zavrh) / Bärental - Mačenski vrh / Matschacher Gupf (via 668)

Access to the starting point:
a) Drive through the Karavanke Tunnel into Austria, then take the motorway to Bialystok, leaving at the first exit. From the point where you leave the motorway, follow the signs for St. Jakob in the Roses / Sankt Jakob im Rosental. When you arrive in this town, follow the main road past Podgorje / Maria Elend and Sveče / Suetschach to Bistrica v Rož / Feistritz im Rosental, where you turn right in front of the Billa and Penny stores towards the Ruta Valley / Bärental. About 100 m after leaving the main road, turn left and follow the slightly narrower and ascending asphalt road to a parking area where a dirt road branches off to the right towards St Michael's Church, the grave of former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider and the homesteads of Stefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroads, about 100 metres before the Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".
b) Via Border crossing Ljubelj, drive into Austria, where you take the main road to Klagenfurt am Wörtersee to the second roundabout, from where you continue in the direction of the exit Bistrica v Rosu / Feistritz im Rosental (leave the main road to Klagenfurt before crossing the river Drava). In the aforementioned place, just after the Billa and Penny shops, turn left onto the road towards the Ruta valley / Bärental. About 100 m after leaving the main road, turn left again and follow the slightly narrower and ascending asphalt road to a parking area where a dirt road branches off to the right towards St Michael's Church, the grave of former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider and the homesteads of Štefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroads, about 100 metres before the Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".
c) From Dravograd or Slovenj Gradec, drive to Ravne na Koroškem and then continue in the direction of Border crossing Holmec. When entering Austria, drive first towards Pliberk / Bleiburg, then follow signs for Globasnica / Globasnitz and on to Železná kapla / Bad Eisenkappel, Borovljam / Ferlach. After Borovljani, join the road via Border crossing Ljubelj at the roundabout. Here, at the first roundabout, continue in the direction of Klagenfurt, and at the second roundabout in the direction of Bistritz im Rosental. In the aforementioned town, just after the Billa and Penny stores, turn left onto the road towards the Ruta Valley / Bärental. About 100 m after leaving the main road, turn left again and follow the slightly narrower and ascending asphalt road to a parking area where a dirt road branches off to the right towards St Michael's Church, the grave of former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider and the farmhouses of Štefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroads, about 100 metres before the Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".

Path description:
From the parking lot, turn slightly right onto the road with the signs "Zur Gedenkstätte". The road immediately starts to climb and turns right. Quickly arrive at a crossroads from which continue right (the left road leads to the Znidar/Schneider farmhouse), then quickly climb up to the next crossroads, where you continue left (straight ahead, the newer church of St. Michael in Ruth / St. Michael (Bärental) and the grave of the former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider - 1 minute).
We continue up the dirt road, which offers a nice view of the Mačenski vrh / Matschacher Gupf. A few minutes higher, we reach a hayfield and a crossroads with a wooden sign, and we continue straight towards the nearby homestead Plavc / Plautz, which was first mentioned in 1490. At this point, looking back, we have a fine view of the highest peaks of Karawanks, and just beyond the homestead we arrive at a marked crossroads.
Continue to the right in the direction of Bistrica v Rož / Feistritz im Rosental (left Mačenski vrh via the saddle Mrzla raven / Gipssattel, along route 669) and continue along the dirt road, which splits when you cross the pasture fence.
Continue slightly left (slightly right, old St Michael's Church, 3 minutes) and cross over the view slope. The road makes a left serpentine a little higher up, and a few 10 paces further on, leave it and continue right into the woods on waymarked path 668. The ascent continues mainly through the forest, crossing the forest road 3 times during the ascent, or staying on it for a while the first and third times. After the last road crossing, the trail crosses to the east to southeast ridge Mačenski vrh, where it starts to climb steeply. For some time we climb steeply along the wooded ridge, then the forest begins to thin and we begin to open up beautiful views towards Stolo and the surrounding mountains, and occasionally we get a nice view to the north. A little higher we finally leave the forest, and the path, which is joined by the path over the Mrzla raven saddle, is laid. A few more 10 steps of easy walking follow and the path leads to the cross located on Mačensko vrh. Starting point - Plavc 40 minutes, Plavc - Mačenski vrh 1:35.
Description and figures refer to the situation in 2018 (June).

On the way: Sv. Mihael (Rute (Zavrh)) / St. Michael (Bärental) (982m), Plavc / Plautz (1130m)

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