Sviščaki - Snežnik (variant through forest)

Access to starting point:
On regional road from Ilirska Bistrica to Sviščaki (19 km), 11 km of road is asphalted.

Path description:
We can leave the car both on a large parking lot 100 meters before the mountain hut (in the winter the only variant), and at the mountian hut. From a large parking lot, we follow the forest road on the right side of Sviščaki until we get to the blazes, which for some time lead through Mali Sviščaki (upper part of Sviščaki), and from the mountain hut just following the blazes (signpost). The path at first leads through the settlement of holiday cottages Sviščaki (almost 100 cottages). When we leave Sviščaki, we at first walk on a footpath through the beech forest about 500 meters to a forest road which we leave after 300 meters (chapel of St. Gabrijel) and we continue (marked!) on the right on a forest cart track (paths for loading logs with tractor). Look only Knafelc blazes (red circle with white dot), also blazes E-6 (red circle with yellow dot) and blazes of couriers and connectors (blue circle with yellow dot), because in this area, the forests are heavily painted with forestry signs - red lines, which strongly resemble the blaze lines, which show the direction. We are slowly ascending on a cart track through the beech forest, we cross the road Lomska cesta (signpost) and we continue to the juncture from Snežnik forest road (signpost, locals call the settlement Pri kapetanovi bajti, but the cottage is long time gone). Here is a wider road, where we can continue on the road, or 50 meters on a marked shortcut, where we again join the road. We continue by following the blazes and we ascend to the end of steep forest road (Obračališče), where there is a viewpoint towards the west. To here we needed 1h 15min, and follows 45 more minutes of ascent on a footpath through dwarf pines. The footpath becomes a little steeper only 300 length meters below the very top, and last 100 meters towards the right (direction south), steepness decreases and slightly ascending we reach the mountain hut of Drago Karolin. This is also the peak, because roof of the mountain hut there is in the same height as upper point of Snežnik. Let me just mention, that in the winter are two spots on the path especially during strong bora or southwest-wind, namely Obračališče, and the edge on the ridge 100 meters before the peak, where the steepness decreases.

On the way: Sviščaki (1242m), Kapelica sv. Gabrijel (1300m), Križanje pl. poti in Lomske ceste (1360m), Pri kapetanovi bajti (1460m), Obračališče (1564m), Veliki Snežnik (1796m)