Koča na Šumiku - Veliki vrh (on Pohorje)

Access to the starting point:
a) From the motorway Ljubljana - Maribor take the exit Slovenska Bistrica - south, then follow the signs for Šmartno na Pohorju, and from there drive to the settlement of Smrečno. Continue along forest roads to Pohorje, where you drive along the Bistrica River. Higher up, we merge with the road leading past the Ruška hut on Pohorje. Here go left towards Osankarica, and at the next crossroads turn slightly right towards the Šumik estate (slightly left Osankarica). When you get to the estate, park in the gravel parking lot in front of the estate.
b) Leave the Štajerska motorway at the exit for Slivnica and Rogoza, then follow the signs for Pohorje and Areh. The road continues through Spodnje and Zgornje Hoče, Slivnica Pohorje, and after the settlements follow the signs for Areh. From Areh, follow the signs for Cojzerica and Šumik and Osankarica. After a few kilometres go slightly right towards the Šumik estate (slightly left Osankarica). When you reach the estate, park on the gravel parking lot in front of the estate.
c) Drive to Ruše, then follow the road towards Fala. After crossing Lobnica, go left in the direction of Smolnik and Šumik, then follow the signs for Šumik estate, where you park in the parking lot in front of the Forestry Cottage at Šumik.

Path description:
From the starting point, follow the marked trail towards Osankarica and Koča na Klopnem vrhu (a slightly shorter unmarked trail leads along the road), where you will climb back to the road through the lane of a forest. When you reach the road, continue straight on (right Ruše), and at the nearby fork in the road, take the road slightly left (slightly right Klopni vrh), which will quickly take you to a marked crossroads.
From the crossroads, continue left downhill (straight Koča na Pesku and Tiho jezero, right Klopni vrh) and follow the moderately steep path back down to the road, where you will join a slightly shorter path that leads along the road. Cross the road, and a little lower still, cross Lobnica, after which return to the road. Continue along the road to the left and pass the trail branch to Rušy - the Holcarska trail at Lobnica, which leads past the two Šumik waterfalls, and follow the road to the next marked crossroads nearby, where you turn right in the direction of the Black Lake, St. Three Kings and Osankarica (straight ahead to Ruška koča na Arehu), where you climb through the forest. Then cross a small stream, and a little higher, cross the Areh - Osankarica road. Continue climbing through the forest, following the signs at the crossroads. Higher up, the path becomes flatter and for a short time we continue through sections of sparse forest, and then we climb moderately through the forest again.
After the nondescript Trije studenci peak, the path descends gently to a marked crossroads where the path splits.
Continue straight on in the direction of St. Three Kings (to the right Osankarica and the Black Lake), where the path leads us in a gentle ascent past the Cross of Urška, after which we gradually begin to descend gently. After a few minutes of further walking, when we reach the ski slope of the ski resort Jakec - Trije kralji, we leave the marked trail towards Sv. Trem kraljev and climb along the edge of the ski slope to Veliki vrh, a few minutes away, from where we can enjoy a beautiful view from the lookout point just below the peak.
From the viewpoint to the highest point is about a 1-minute walk through the forest.
Description and pictures refer to the situation in January, May and June 2022.

We recommend: trips from the same starting point, similar trips