Žarovnica - Ravna Gora (Babice)

Access to the starting point:
a) Arrive in Croatia via Border crossing Gruškovje / Macelj, then continue driving towards Trakoščan and Lepoglava. In Lepoglava, at the petrol station, continue straight in the direction of Višnjica and Klenovski (right centre of Lepoglava and Varaždin). Further on, you will arrive in the village of Vulišinec and Kamenički Vrhovec. When you reach the signpost marking the beginning of Žarovnica, turn left at the crossroads in the direction of Kamenice. Continue through Kamenica and then arrive back in Žarovnica. There are two crossroads here, and we park near the second one (there is a carpenter's shop on the right and there are always a lot of old vehicles nearby).
b)From Prekmurje, we first go to Varaždin, and from there we continue in the direction of Ivanec. At the end of Ivanec you reach Lepoglava, where you turn right towards Trakoščan, immediately after the bridge on Bednja, turn right in the direction of Višnjice and Klenovnik. Continue as in the above description.

Path description:
The route officially starts at the railway station in Lepoglava, but from there it is a 3-hour walk along an asphalt road to "our" starting point.
We will start our journey in the village of Žarovnica, where we will see white mountain signs at the second crossroads from the route of Kamenice. From here we go left in the direction of Glažari and Golubi and reach a small bridge where there are also some suitable parking places. After crossing the little bridge, you are in the village of Kameničko Podgorje, and the asphalt path begins to climb through the village. When the asphalt road starts to descend, continue right into the forest. Through the forest, walk first along the wider macadam road, then from the first crossroads continue along the narrower logging trail, where the path becomes steeper. Higher up, logging trail turns into a track, which leads to the rocky part of Babica. The rocky part is not technically difficult, but in wet conditions it is dangerous to slip. At the top of this part there is a crossroads where the path to the left branches off towards the Glažareva pećina lookout point, and we continue straight up (down to the Babica rock - not marked).
From the crossroads onwards, we climb relatively steeply for a while, then the path lays down and leads us to the often quite muddy cart track. Walk along cart track for a short time, then arrive at a wider macadam road where the Lapornjak trail joins almost imperceptibly from the right.
Walk along the road for a few 10 metres, then continue left into the forest, where you will reach another turnoff towards the Glažareva pećina lookout point (the turnoff is suitable for those who have come along the Lapornjak trail). Climb steeply for a while, then pass the animal feeding area and the hunting observation point to get back to the road, which you will then walk along for a while. The road soon branches off into another path to the lookout point mentioned twice before. A little further on, you will reach a long bend, after which you will reach the ridge of Ravne Gora. Follow the road to one of the coniferous forest belts, where signs lead you to the left. From here we will walk for some time along a narrower track which continues along the eastern slope just a few metres below the ridge. Continue through the forest and then reach a clearing where the track is more overgrown. From here you have a nice view to the north, where you can see the Ptuj field, and to the east, where the view reaches all the way to Hungary. At the end of the clearing there is another crossroads where the trail branches off. We continue slightly to the right and after a few minutes we reach the Balkon lookout point, from where it is a minute's walk to the Krešimir Filić mountain home, and from there 5 minutes past the paragliders' airstrip to the top.

We recommend: similar trips