Rimske Toplice (Šmarjeta) - Kopitnik (via Lurd)

Access to starting point:
A) From highway Ljubljana - Maribor we go to the exit Celje - center, and then we continue driving in the direction of Laško and later Rimske Toplice. At the beginning of the settlement Rimske Toplice, we turn right in the direction of Hrastnik, and we drive on the main road towards Hrastnik only about 50 meters and then we turn left on a local road, on which we quickly get to the nearby cemetery, by which we park on a marked parking lot.
B) From Zasavje we at first drive in Hrastnik, and then we continue driving towards Celje. When we get to Rimske Toplice, we will only 50 meters before the main crossroad, where the road joins the main road Celje - Zidani Most, turn right on a local road, on which we quickly get to the nearby cemetery, by which we park on a marked parking lot.
C) From the direction Posavje we at first drive to Zidani Most, and then we continue driving towards Celje. When we get to Rimske Toplice we need to pay attention, because at the end of the settlement, the road branches off to the left, which leads towards Hrastnik. We go on the mentioned road, and we are driving there only about 50 meters and then we turn left on a local road, on which we quickly get to the nearby cemetery, by which we park on a marked parking lot.

Path description:
From the parking lot by the cemetery, we continue on the road towards the south. Already after few 10 meters, the priority road turns left, and we continue straight towards Lurd. We continue on a little narrower road, and while walking on the right side, we all the time clearly see the church of the holy Mother of God in Ogeče (Lurd), past which the path will later lead us.
At the next crossroad, we continue slightly left, after that only few steps further at the chapel right upwards. Here we quickly get to a smaller triangular crossroad, by which there are numerous hiking signposts. We continue right in the direction of Kopitnik and Lurd and we continue the ascent on the asphalt road which is ascending diagonally towards the right. Higher the settlement ends, and the road passes into the forest. Here from the right also the other path from Šmarjeta joins, and the road turns a little more to the right and it brings us to the church of Holy Mother of God (Lurd).
Only a little above the church, we leave the asphalt road and we continue left in the direction of Kopitnik. From the road, the path at first steeply ascends, and then it flattens and crosses a short relatively steep slope. The slope quickly flattens, and the path brings us out of the forest by the edge of a meadow, where it turns left to an abandoned house. On the other side of the house, we get to a smaller crossroad, where we continue straight in the direction of Kopitnik. We walk on the road only few minutes, and then blazes point us slightly to the right on a marked cart track which is ascending parallel with the road. The cart track quickly flattens and at the older house returns on the road. From the house, we ascend to a smaller saddle, and then after two successive crossings, we continue left. Further, we are ascending on a steeper forest path, which higher joins the cart track which entirely flattens and out of the forest it brings us to a larger grassy clearing. Here the path turns a little to the left and returns into the forest, through which it is then occasionally again ascending steeper. Higher, we ascend also through a grassy meadow and the path brings us to a macadam road, where we join the other path from Rimske Toplice (starting point store Tuš and Rimske terme).
We continue on a gently sloping road, on which we walk to homestead Pri Izeri. At the homestead, the road becomes asphalted, and we walk there only few meters and then the caption on a tree "koča" (hut) points us left into the forest. Further, we are for a short time ascending through the forest and then we join the path from the village Marno and Turje. From the crossing ahead, we step out of the forest, and a gently sloping path which continues through a larger meadow in few minutes brings us to the mountain hut Koča na Kopitniku.
From the mountain hut Koča na Kopitniku we continue left, at first even slightly downwards, and then the footpath becomes more distinct and starts ascending. After a short ascent, we step on the road and we follow it to the left. The path ahead leads us past the forestry cottage, behind which from the right the path from Zidani Most joins. Here we continue straight and then at the next crossing slightly left in the direction of the peak. The path in a gentle ascent continues through the forest and then for few meters descends. Next follows a short ascent and the path brings us on a ridge, where also the path from Lukovško sedlo joins (starting point Rimske Toplice).
Here we continue right on a narrow and partly precipitous ridge, on which we continue. Because the path is further wide enough and on exposed spots also secured with a steel cable, the ascent to the summit of Kopitnik snowless doesn't represent any bigger problems.

On the way: Lurd (300m), Koča na Kopitniku (865m)