Slovenia is full of natural beauty: forests, mountains, streams, and rivers, green paths for hiking and mountaineering. It is hard to point out “the most beautiful”; that depends on your taste and maybe your mood.

Well, our taste and mood this Saturday were completely in sync with Natural Park Pohorje, especially with the atmosphere and the energy of the primeval forest around the river Lobnica.

Pohorje, also known as the Pohorje Massif or the Pohorje Mountains, is a mostly wooded, medium-high mountain range south of the Drava River in northeastern Slovenia.

Our trail started in the small town of Ruše, a kind of suburb of Maribor. Unfortunately in spite of all the tourist information, we could not find any reliable Gpx track. We found a broken one leading from the main street of Ruše up to halfway to waterfall Mali Šumnik. Later, we discovered that we could spare ourselves at least 5 kilometers walking on the paved road and leave the car at marked parking places much nearer to the hiking paths. Anyway, if you want to repeat our adventure in a better way, the precise Gpx file is HERE.

When you come to our starting point, just continue with the car along the road for 2-3 kilometers and find a suitable parking spot.

We left the paved road a hundred meters from the starting point and hiked up the small hill on the right (the table pointing towards Smolnik). After one hour up and down through the nice but not remarkable forest paths, we joined the Lobnica River again. And from there on starts the beauty!

At first, you are walking on the wide unpaved path following the river (prepare for a fall of temperature of at least 7-10 degrees (fresh stream of air coming down among the river canyon). Also, prepare for a constant murmur of water cascading over the large rocks in the river bed. (See the short reel on Facebook.)

And then, at the end of the road, when you start hiking steeply up, you will find yourself in a primeval forest surrounded by Mother Nature’s indescribable beauty and ancient energy.

I am citing the visitimaribor.si website: “The Lobnica stream unfolds 19 hectares of Pohorje primeval forest that is not desecrated (steep right slope above the Lobnica stream) where beech, pine, and fir trees find their secret refuge as well as rare plants their secret habitats.”

The trees are left where they fall, and the hills are full of water, flowing down and empowering the Lobnica River. The rocks are huge and covered with moss. The air is… ah, it is so fresh! And Lobnica… you can drink its waters and taste the magic.

You’ll wish to stop and feel it. Do it, by all means. Do not hurry.
Soak it in, and understand what people have done to the rest of the planet, what we lost,
and what we can have again, only if we change our ways.

We followed the river up to Mali Šumnik waterfall, and partially to Veliki Šumnik (we didn’t finish the climb, so we have to come back to do it next time).

Nothing more to say, but: you have to visit this place!

Take a look at the pictures in the gallery.