Otočec - Sveta Marija (Trška Gora) (via Stari grad)

Access to starting point:
A) From highway Ljubljana - Obrežje we go to the exit Novo mesto - east, and then we continue driving in the direction of Otočec. Further, we drive on the old road towards Brežice, and then we quickly get to a crossroad, where we continue right in the direction of the settlement Lešnica. After Lešnica we get to Otočec, and we drive to the other side of the settlement, where we park on a parking lot by the cemetery.
B) From highway Obrežje - Ljubljana we go to the exit Kronovo (exit number 28), and then we continue driving in the direction of the castle Otočec. Also from the nearby roundabout we continue to the exit castle Otočec. Further, we drive on the old road towards Novo mesto, and after Petrol gas station we turn right in an already known direction. Next follow two successive crossroads, where we go twice left, and after the underpass we go right in the direction of Otočec (left - castle Otočec). Next follows approximately 1 km of driving, and then we get to Otočec, where we park on a parking lot by the cemetery.

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue past the church and we for some time continue by the road in the direction of Novo mesto. We soon get to the chapel, where a road branches off to the left towards Ratež and Gumberk, and then at the next few 10 steps distant crossroad we continue right past NOB monument. We continue through the underpass, and then on the other side of the underpass we continue left (right - Paha and Herinja vas). At the next crossroad, we continue right, and then we walk past the confectionery Slaščičarstvo Hočevar and past the primary school Otočec and along the fields we get to the end of Otočec and few steps further to an unmarked crossroad.
We continue straight, on the road which descends to the underpass below the highway (on the left road we can get to Trška Gora). On the other side of the underpass, the road turns right, and then in a gentle ascent, in few minutes brings us to the spot, where we leave the asphalt road. From the road, we continue left in the direction of Castle forest teaching trail (Grajska gozdna učna pot) and the path "S cvičkom med vinogradi". From the meadow, the path quickly passes into the forest, through which it starts moderately ascending. In few minutes of a moderate and in the upper part diagonal ascent, we get to a viewpoint and castle Stari grad, which is owned by Krka d.d.
After the castle, the road for some time slightly descends, and then it brings us to the settlement Zagrad pri Otočcu, where we continue straight past the recycling spot. The path ahead leads us past a smaller hamlet, where the path branches off to the right towards the cave Beceletova jama, and we continue straight and then after the gardens we continue left in the direction of Trška Gora. The path ahead leads us over a smaller bridge, on which we cross the stream Lešnica, and then the path soon passes into the forest, where at the crossings we follow the blazes. After the initial ascent follows a short descent, where we get to a poorly marked crossing, where we continue straight on a meadow, where we follow an old, with grass overgrown cart track which is hard to follow. When we ascend to the top of a meadow we reach another road which we reach right at the smaller crossroad. From the crossroad, we continue straight on a "side" road, from which we go immediately left into the forest. Few minutes we are ascending through the forest and then we reach one of the houses, and few steps ahead also an asphalt road. We are ascending on the road in the direction of Trška Gora, and nice views are opening up on vineyards and Gorjanci on the other side of the river Krka. Higher the asphalt for some time ends, and at few crossroads we continue straight or slightly right. When we see the church of the Holy Mary on Trška Gora already relatively near, we at first few 10 meters cross to the right, and then we continue left on a narrow asphalt road which ascends through the forest. The road at the nearby house ends, and we continue straight, on the path which higher continues along the fence. This path we then follow all the way to the church of the Holy Mary on Trška Gora, from which a beautiful view opens up.
Description and pictures refer to a condition in the year 2016 (June).

On the way: Stari grad nad Otočcem (250m)