Nakovana - Sveti Ilija (Pelješac)

Access to starting point:
We drive through Orebić and at its western end at "Y" crossroad we turn right in the direction of Kućište/Viganj/Lovište. Next approx. 15 minutes (11.4 km) we continue on the main road which - through Kućište and Viganj - over the "mountain pass" height approx 300 meters leads towards Lovište. The starting point for our tour is near the highest point ("saddle") of this road, at the long left turn. Just before the sign for settlement Nakovana there is a turn-off of a "forest" macadam road; before the closed gate there is a parking lot for around 6 cars.
Distances from the nearby tourist settlements to the starting point: Orebić (center): 12 km; Viganj/Kućište/Perna: 4 to 9 km; Lovište: good 6 km.

Path description:
In terms of fitness this is the easiest (the lowest altitude difference), and in terms of walked kilometers (more than 7 km) maybe the longest approach on Sveti Ilija. There you can get a good idea of the vastness and fragmentation of the ridge of Pelješac, with numerous hills by the path. Like most of accesses, this also for about half an hour leads through a beautiful pine forest (at an altitude around 600 meters). You can make the tour easier, if you ride on the macadam road (3.4 km) with a mountain bike; on foot, this part is a bit long.
In the heat of the summer holidays it makes the most sense to start the tour in the dark (somewhere between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.) and finish it early in the morning, or take advantage of a possible cooler day. There is no water by the path. Both mountain huts - new (just by the hunting cottage) and a better known old - are in the summer closed (the keys has PD Orebić).

On the first third of the tour the blazes are very rare and faded, but the orientation is still very easy: just follow the macadam road (3.4 km; 0:45). This is very easy even in the dark. First you go past the gate, then on the south side circle the first hill Pranja, and then you long time walk more or less in the direction of east, in a gentle ascent, and at the end a little steeper (basically a hairpin turn) on the northern side you circle the hill Pišćet. You can cut the last turn on the mountain path (with that you shorten the path for 0.4 km), but the turn-off (right into the forest) isn't well-marked.

Here, at the turning point Podpišćet, there is actually the beginning of the mountain path (if you are with a bike, you park here). Trail blazes from here on are good and very frequent. From the turning point you go past the hunting observatory and you go immediately steeper on a stone ground. After about 15 minutes of the ascent the path again flattens. You continue on rugged terrain: through maquis shrubland, over big stones, through low deciduous forest. After a little less than an hour of walking you reach a large clearing; there by the hunting cottage from 1980 there is a new mountain hut. Few minutes from the clearing ahead, in the shelter of high pines, you reach triple crossroad (junction of the path from the direction Viganj/Bilopolje/Orebić). This part 1 hour.

Last hour leads forward towards the east, at first through a beautiful pine forest, then again a little more on the open. Before you get to the old mountain hut, you go twice also a little steeper uphill. At the mountain hut the path from the direction Orebić/Ruskovići joins. Above the mountain hut there are few more strides of a steeper ascent through the forest (towards the northeast), and then on bare upper ridge gently to the top.

The starting point - end of the macadam road (Podpišćet) 0:45; end of the road - triple crossroad (Polje) 1:00, crossroad - peak 1:00.
Described condition applies to August 2022.