KRIM AND THE LAKE BELOW
Length
60.9
Length 60.9 km ​
Time needed
05:00
Time needed 05:00 ​
Največja strmina vzpona[%]
7
Greatest slope of the ascent: 7 %
Greatest slope of the descent: 7 %
Average slope of the ascent: 5 %
Length of ascents above 5%: 9.60 km
The lowest point of the route: 1098 m
The highest point of the route: 287 m
Difference in altitude: 1155 m
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Poraba kalorij
10174
Consumption of energy for men: 10174 kJ (2430 kcal)
Consumption of energy for women: 8290 kJ (1980 kcal)
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Difficulty
Difficulty: Very demanding ​
Quality of the surface
Quality of the surface: Mixture
Type of bike: Mountain bike
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Short description

Quite a long route for the experienced cyclists that runs from Ljubljana to Krim and back. Most of the route runs along asphalt, and some of the sections along macadam roads. The route is flat, except for the ascent to Krim when you ascend for 800 m in the distance of 17 km.

Course

Ljubljana (Vič) – Vnanje Gorice – Notranje Gorice – Podpeč – Preserje – Gorenja Brezovica – Krim – Gornji Ig – Iška vas – Matena - Ljubljana (Vič)

Over the plain to the foot of the hill
Start the route at Vič (at Dolgi most P&R car park). Set out below the motorway ring and over the Gradaščica River along Lipahova Street, then go right at the crossroads in order to get to the macadam road behind the railroad where you continue to the Marshes. Continue straightforward at Brezovica (do not turn to the underpass) . A view of the Marshes opens up on the left , and today's destination can be seen in the background - Krim. Macadam road ends in the crossroads where you continue on the main road through Vnanje Gorice , Notranje Gorice , then a short an flat section of Podpeška Road follows , next is the bridge over the Ljubljanica River, and in Podpeč turn right to Borovnica.

Ascent
About 1 km after the crossroads turn left and up the hill. The ascent starts here. First cycle between houses on the slope. A nice view of Sv. Ana opens up at the first levelling. Continue your journey and turn left at the crossroads in Preserje . Preserje is a good starting point for various hikes in the vicinity , but a lot of cycling still awaits you today, so move along. You're somewhere on the quarter of the ascent to Krim at the bus station in Gorenja Brezovica. Right, between the trees and houses on the north-west side, you can see the solitary hill Sv. Jožef . First proceed through the forest with some patches . Just before Rakitna (where the forest still encloses the road) turn left to the macadam road towards Krim and proceed to the top. Now you've conquered three quarters of the anticipated altitude. Around three kilometres before the top turn left, as you will return there on the way back.

Krim
On the top of the tour, at Krim , which is 1,107 m high, are a hiking inn and a television transmitter which is also visible from Ljubljana and the surrounding area. If the weather is nice, you can see the Ljubljana Marshes, the Karavanke, the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and a part of the Julian Alps from the top of the hill . In 1942, Krvavice partisan hospital was established in the area of Krim (above Iški vintgar Gorge) and operated for about a year.

Descent
You'll return back by descending on the eastern side of Krim and thus encircle Jezero, above which Krim rises. Jezero got its name after Podpeč Lake, 50 m deep and almost completely round. Return along the same route, then turn left at the already known crossroads and cycle under power lines for some time . The descent to Gornji Ig continues along the macadam road and onwards along the asphalt road through an actual karst forest .

You get to the plain in Iška and turn towards Ljubljana . As soon as you arrive to Staje, continue on a shortcut past the settlement, straight along the route which you've cycled at the beginning . At the crossroads, turn left to the main road, then right at the chapel to the village of Matena . The route runs through the village and continues on the main road which continues in the north-east direction and finally joins Ižanska Road . Cycle carefully straightforward and over the bypass .

Back in the city
Approximately 500 m after the bypass carefully turn left to Path of Remembrance and Comradeship (POT) and cycle along it to Tržaška Road where you end at the starting point.

 

Vnanje Gorice
The village is positioned between two solitary hills, Gulč and Veliki vrh. The old village centre has some lovely arranged farms and the surrounding solitary hills serve as the viewpoints where, among other peculiarities, some interesting archaeological remains were found. At the top of the solitary hill Gulč, the Church of the Holy Spirit, built in 1526, is located. A special feature of the church are frescoes on tufa stones, the work of a local artist Izidor Mole. Gršak Homestead, built in 1863, is located in Vnanje Gorice as well. There is also the starting point of Ašič botanical educational path which connects the settlements of the Ljubljana Marshes via side paths.

Notranje Gorice
Notranje Gorice is the oldest settlement in the Marshes. There is a chapel in the middle of the village, built in the memory of the plague and small pox epidemics which ravaged between 1850 and 1860. The Church of St. Martin is known for its priest and writer, Janez Jalen, who wrote the novel Bobri (Beavers). In the vicinity of Notranje Gorice, the archaeologists found the oldest remains of the crannogs, where the crannog dwellers lived in the Stone Age.
The solitary hill Plešivica that rises above Notranje Gorice is the highest point of the Ljubljana Marshes. In the central part of Notranje Gorice, an abandoned quarry was cut into the hill in 1848, when the construction of the railway line Ljubljana-Trieste over the Marshes took place.

Preserje
You can see the mighty Baroque Church of St. Vitus . The Baroque church consists of the belfry, dome-shaped vaulted nave with the ground plan of irregular octagon and octagonal presbytery with extensions. The nave and presbytery are painted with frescoes by various painters from different periods of time. The church has a rich Baroque (and that of later periods) interior (Source: www.dedi.si, 26. 9. 2012).

Gornji Ig
Gornji Ig is the settlement in the Krim-Mokrec Hills. Just above the village, Črtež Hill rises (765 m), while below Velika and Mala Pasica stalactite karst caves are located. A forest path to Krvavice partisan hospital leads from the village towards south. While towards east, the terrain steeply descends to the lower part of Iški vintgar Gorge. The Church of St. Leonard is opposite the cemetery in Gornji Ig. The medieval church was destroyed in 1942, but was completely renovated between 1997 and 1998.

Iški vintgar Gorge
The Iška River, which flows with its tributaries from Bloška planota Plateau, has carved 300 to 400 m deep gorge which is the sharpest natural border between two Slovenian regions: Dolenjska and Notranjska. The dolomite gorge is very picturesque and the banks offer a true botanical treasury. The clean river flows over the rocky barricades in waterfalls and cascades and occasionally stagnates in tempting pools. E-6 European footpath runs from the inn along the left bank and you'll have to wade a few metres across the cold river at the end of the comfortable road in order to proceed. If you stay on the left bank, a marked but steep path will take you to the ruins of Krvavice partisan hospital.Iški vintgar Gorge is one of the most popular hiking spots in the vicinity of the Ljubljana Marshes. The gorge of the Iška River gave shelter to Ljubljana woodsmen already at the beginning of the 20th century, when they naively tried to return back to nature, left the city life behind, worshipped the sun, collected herbs and lived in simple shelters.

 

Grebenčeva klet Inn in Podpeč
Grebenčeva klet inn is located in a more than 100 years old house and is open in the evening as well .

 

Jason and Argonauts
Almost three thousand years old legend tells that Jason, due to stealing of the Golden fleece, fled to the mouth of the Danube River on the way from the eastern coast of the Black Sea to hide from the Colchis navy, and proceeded up to the mouth of the Sava River and to the Ljubljanica River. As he ran from the vengeful attackers, he came right to the Ljubljana Marshes which were completely marshy back then and the navigable path ended there. Because it was autumn, Jason had to spend the winter in the area of present-day Ljubljana, and he continued his journey in the spring by dismantling the ship and transporting it to the Adriatic Sea where some of the crew set out for the native Greece.

Crannog dwellers on the Marshes
The southern part of the Ljubljana Basin – today's Ljubljana Marshes – was approximately seven thousand years ago a 2 or 3 m deep lake, and then the water surface gradually lowered. Crannog dwellers lived there back then and Janez Jalen writes about them in his novel Bobri (Beavers), while numerous findings also testify of their existence. The crannog dwellers fed on wild animals and picked fruits, bred domestic animals and grew flex. They used dugout canoes (made of a tree trunk) for sailing, and the findings of copper skewers and moulds for pouring copper and bronze testify of the developed metallurgy. In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, the lake gradually turned into high marshes and the peat overgrew the remains of the crannog settlements.