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Exploring Karst: From Hruševica to Kosovelje

Biking in Slovenia » Karst Plateau » Exploring Karst: From Hruševica to Kosovelje

It’s easy to meander around Slovenian Karst on a bike as it’s crisscrossed with paved roads. Still, it’s more interesting to stay on gravel roads and try to find old overgrown dirt tracks, this time taking us from Hruševica to Kosovelje.

At a Glance

Difficulty
From gravel roads to footpaths, with an occasional stretch of asphalt or two.
Altitude
300 m
Average time
2 h
Elevation gain
160 m
Distance
17.7 km
Coordinates
Start: 45.810886,13.828548

Starting point Hiking map

Interactive route Download GPX file

In a Nutshell

  • I started at Hotel St Daniel in Hruševica1. You could begin in Štanjel or park near the cemetery at the edge of Hruševica.
  • From the village center, follow the widest gravel road going south. The gravel road will bring you to an asphalt road close to Kopriva.
Karst meadows around the gravel road to Kopriva

Karst meadows around the gravel road to Kopriva

  • Turn right, and after approximately 100 meters, turn right onto a narrow road leading into the village.
  • As you bike through Kopriva, keep right until you find a gravel road that crosses the railway.
  • Stay on the broadest track as the gravel road eventually turns into a dirt road and finally into a dirt track.
Dirt track (the easy part) from Kopriva to Kosovelje

Dirt track (the easy part) from Kopriva to Kosovelje

  • Eventually, you’ll come to a junction where the dirt track veers right, and a narrow single-track goes toward the left. Take the single-track that will bring you to a gravel road. Turn left.
If you got to this clearing, you'd missed the single-track

If you got to this clearing, you'd missed the single-track

  • At the next crossing, follow signs for Kosovelje.
  • In Kosovelje, keep to the right to get to Pliskina pot – a well-maintained footpath that will bring you to the asphalt road from Pliskovica to Gabrovica.
Kosovelje

Kosovelje

  • According to the map, there’s a dirt track running parallel to the asphalt road. I found something, but it was so overgrown I gave up and took the asphalt road till Gabrovica.
  • At the edge of Gabrovica, take a dirt track going right. It will bring you to a gravel road leading back toward Štanjel/Hruševica.
Going back toward Štanjel

Going back toward Štanjel

If you started in Štanjel, follow biking signs for Štanjel until you get there. If you began in Hruševica, you could use the same strategy to get to Kobjeglava or Tupelče, or you could try to find a shortcut2:

  • After a gravel road crossing where the sign for Štanjel sends you left, find a narrower dirt track going right.
  • Follow that dirt track until it starts getting wider and turning north.
  • Find another dirt track forking right (hint: OpenCycleMap helps). This one will bring you straight to Hruševica.
Made it back to Hruševica 😎

Made it back to Hruševica 😎

  1. Highly recommended. I loved it the first time I’ve been there, and I keep coming back. They are only getting better. ↩︎

  2. Don’t worry about getting lost – as long as you don’t turn around, you’ll end in Kobjeglava, Tupelče, or Hruševica no matter what. ↩︎

Map of the Route

The map shows the path we took as recorded by the GPS receiver. Never trust a GPS track wholeheartedly; rely on your senses and maps.