Ljubelj - Svačica (General)

Rating:
Country:	Slovenia, Austria
Mountain range:	Karawanks
Trailhead:	Ljubelj (1058 m)
Destination:	Svačica (1953 m)
Trailhead latitude/longitude:	46.4315 / 14.26
Destination latitude/longitude:	46.4443 / 14.191
Difficulty:	Difficult marked route
Recommended equipment:	Hiking poles Hiking shoes Water

From Ljubljana, take the highway toward the Gorenjska region and exit the highway toward Tržič. From there, continue past Tržič and Podljubelj all the way to the Ljubelj Tunnel. Just before the tunnel, a road branches off to the left—take that road. Drive across a short wooden bridge and park in the large parking lot. Parking is paid; the fee is 3EU per day and is paid at a pay station.

We walk back to the wooden bridge, where a signpost for Zelenica and Dom na Zelenici will direct us onto a wide, ascending dirt road that leads into the forest. After a short climb, a narrow trail branches off straight ahead at a bend; we take this trail and follow it for just a few minutes before rejoining the wide dirt road. This trail quickly brings us to a former ski run, which we follow uphill. The ascent is direct and fairly steep. After about 10 minutes, you’ll reach the Vrtača hut; go around it on the right and continue your ascent along the trail that leads through the dwarf pine forest. In this section, the trail becomes somewhat steeper. Once we’ve climbed through the dwarf pine forest, we join a wide cart track that first leads around a bend, then levels off and flattens out slightly, leading to the Zelenica Mountain Hut in just a few minutes. Behind the lodge, continue toward Stol and cross the ski trail to the right through a small patch of forest. Beyond the patch, cross the ski trail again; it continues into the forest. We continue through the forest, past several large boulders, to a small fork in the trail where we turn left (the trail to the right leads toward Palec and Zelenjak). The trail climbs very gently up the southern slope of Vrtača. After walking for a while, the forest ends, and we soon cross several scree slopes. An unmarked trail from the hut at the source of the Završnica joins us from the right, but we stay on the trail, which soon leads us to a marked fork. At the junction, continue to the right toward Vrtača. The trail begins to climb more steeply and later leads to another junction. Here, the trail turns sharply upward toward the summit of Vrtača, but we descend straight ahead and cross a large scree slope. The trail descends slightly across the scree slopes. At the end of the scree field, the trail climbs again to some dwarf pine, where it levels off and leads to another fork. Here, the trail continues left toward Stol, but we take the right fork along a gentle, well-trodden path to a small saddle and another fork, from where we catch sight of the Celovška Hut. Here, we continue right, climbing steeply up the ridge (on the left side of the dwarf pine). At the top of a fairly short but steep ascent, the trail continues along a short and exposed ridge toward the summit of Svačica, where a cross with a guestbook stands.

There is no water available beyond the Zelenica Hut, so be sure to bring a sufficient amount with you.