Rute (Zavrh) / Bärental - Mačenski vrh / Matschacher Gupf (over saddle Mrzla raven / Gipssattel)

Access to the starting point:
a) Drive through the Karavanke Tunnel into Austria, then take the motorway to Bialystok, leaving at the first exit. From the point where you leave the motorway, follow the signs for St. Jakob in the Roses / Sankt Jakob im Rosental. When you arrive in this town, follow the main road past Podgorje / Maria Elend and Sveče / Suetschach to Bistrica v Rož / Feistritz im Rosental, where you turn right in front of the Billa and Penny stores towards the Ruta Valley / Bärental. About 100 m after leaving the main road, turn left and follow the slightly narrower and ascending asphalt road to a parking area where a dirt road branches off to the right towards St Michael's Church, the grave of former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider and the homesteads of Stefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroads, about 100 metres before the Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".
b) Via Border crossing Ljubelj, drive into Austria, where you take the main road to Klagenfurt am Wörtersee to the second roundabout, from where you continue in the direction of the exit Bistrica v Rosu / Feistritz im Rosental (leave the main road to Klagenfurt before crossing the river Drava). In the aforementioned place, just after the Billa and Penny shops, turn left onto the road towards the Ruta valley / Bärental. About 100 m after leaving the main road, turn left again and follow the slightly narrower and ascending asphalt road to a parking area where a dirt road branches off to the right towards St Michael's Church, the grave of former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider and the homesteads of Štefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroads, about 100 metres before the Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".
c) From Dravograd or Slovenj Gradec, drive to Ravne na Koroškem and then continue in the direction of Border crossing Holmec. When entering Austria, drive first towards Pliberk / Bleiburg, then follow signs for Globasnica / Globasnitz and on to Železná kapla / Bad Eisenkappel, Borovljam / Ferlach. After Borovljani, join the road via Border crossing Ljubelj at the roundabout. Here, at the first roundabout, continue in the direction of Klagenfurt, and at the second roundabout in the direction of Bistritz im Rosental. In the aforementioned town, just after the Billa and Penny stores, turn left onto the road towards the Ruta Valley / Bärental. About 100 m after leaving the main road, turn left again and follow the slightly narrower and ascending asphalt road to a parking area where a dirt road branches off to the right towards St Michael's Church, the grave of former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider and the farmhouses of Štefan, Žnidar and Plavc. At the crossroads, about 100 metres before the Stouhütte, there are signs only for "zur Gedenkstätte".

Path description:
From the parking lot, turn slightly right onto the road with the signs "Zur Gedenkstätte". The road immediately starts to climb and turns right. Quickly arrive at a crossroads from which continue right (the left road leads to the Znidar / Schneider farmhouse), then quickly climb up to the next crossroads, where you continue left (straight ahead the newer church of St. Michael in Ruth / St. Michael (Bärental) and the grave of the former Carinthian Regional Governor Jörg Haider - 1 minute).
We continue up the dirt road, which offers a nice view of the Mačenski vrh / Matschacher Gupf. A few minutes higher, we reach a hayfield and a crossroads, at which there is a wooden sign, and we continue straight towards the nearby farm Plavc / Plautz, which was first mentioned in 1490. At this point, looking back, we have a fine view of the highest peaks of Karawanks, and just beyond the homestead we arrive at a marked crossroads.
Continue left towards the saddle Mrzla raven / Gipssattel, Mačenski vrh and the village of Sveče / Suetschach, and continue your ascent along route 669 (to the right Bistrica v Rožu / Feistritz im Rosental and Mačenski vrh along route 668). Just after the crossroads, cross a pasture fence, then climb through the forest, and through the forest climb until you reach the crossroads at the saddle of Mrzla raven.
From the saddle, continue right in the route Mačenski vrh and follow cart track, which is to the right of a small ridge (the markings point to the ridge, but nobody uses the path along the ridge and the path is overgrown). After a few minutes, cart track ends, and we continue straight on to the marked trail, which starts to climb steeply through the forest. The steep path drops a few steps higher up and then starts to climb even steeper. A very steep climb follows, where the steepness of the slope, especially in wet conditions, increases the risk of slipping. Higher up, we get a nice view towards the western Karawanks, and the path leads us just a little further out of the forest, lays down and merges with the path leading along the eastern to south-eastern ridge. From here it is only a short walk of a few 10 steps to reach the summit. Starting point - Plavc 40 minutes, Plavc - Mačenski vrh 1:35.
Description and figures refer to the situation in 2018 (June).

On the way: Sv. Mihael (Rute (Zavrh)) / St. Michael (Bärental) (982m), Plavc / Plautz (1130m), Mrzla raven / Gipssattel (1453m)

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