Ciganija - Uršlja gora (Plešivec)

Access to starting point:
A) First, we drive to Šoštanj (to here from Velenje or the Savinja Valley), and then we continue driving towards Črna na Koroškem. Further, the road starts ascending towards the mountain pass Spodnje Sleme (1081 m), which we reach after a few kilometers of winding road. Here the road branches off to the left towards the mountain hut Andrejev dom na Slemenu, and we continue driving towards Črna na Koroškem. From the pass we drive a few hundred meters more, and then signs for Uršlja gora point us to the right onto an ascending road which only a little higher loses its asphalt surface. We continue on a wider macadam road (the road is in winter usually cleared of snow and gritted), and we follow it approximately 1500 meters, or to the crossroad, where a worse macadam road branches off to the right towards Križan and Uršlja gora (by the crossroad there are numerous signposts and a cross). We park in an appropriate place by the road.
B) First, we drive to Črna na Koroškem, and from there we continue driving towards Šoštanj and Velenje. Still before we get to the mountain pass Spodnje Sleme, signs for Uršlja gora point us sharply left onto an ascending and subsequently wider macadam road (the turn-off from the main road is located a few hundred meters before the mentioned pass, and above the crossroad we also notice a bigger chapel). We continue on a wider macadam road (the road is in winter usually cleared of snow and gritted), and we follow it approximately 1500 meters, or to the crossroad, where a worse macadam road branches off to the right towards Križan and Uršlja gora (by the crossroad there are numerous signposts and a cross). We park in an appropriate place by the road.

Route description:
From the starting point, we continue on the right road in the direction of Uršlja gora and Naravske ledine, and it starts gently ascending through the forest. Further, for some time we cross the slopes towards the right, and then we get to a small saddle (Kotnikov vrh), where the road turns to the left and starts descending steeper. There follows a somewhat longer descent, which ends at Križan (to here also possible with a car, this shortens the path by a good 30 minutes).
From Križan, where there is a crossroad of several roads, we continue straight on a marked footpath in the direction of Uršlja gora (left Koča na Naravskih ledinah). The path ahead ascends for some time through the forest, then crosses a pasture fence and further ascends across a panoramic pasture. After a few minutes of further ascent, we get to the upper edge of the pasture, where on the left we see ruins of the former farm Šišernik, and on the right a masonry chapel. We continue on the left side of the chapel, behind which we cross a pasture fence and behind it also two successive macadam roads (the upper one leads from Naravske ledine towards Uršlja gora). Above the road the path starts ascending steeper through the forest, and after a few minutes it splits into two parts.
We continue on the left path (slightly right on the old cart track - winter path), which starts ascending a little steeper. There follows approximately half an hour of steep ascent, and then we get to the road which leads to Uršlja gora. We follow the mentioned road to the left, but we walk only a few steps on it, as the blazes then direct us right onto a footpath. A few tens of meters higher, a marked path from Ivarčko jezero lake and Poštarski dom pod Plešivcem joins us from the right, and we continue straight on the path which from an increasingly sparse forest quickly brings us onto the summit grassy slopes of Uršlja gora or Plešivec. There follows a short gentle ascent and we arrive at the church of St. Ursula and the nearby mountain hut.
On the other side of the highest-lying church in Slovenia we continue in the direction towards the summit of Uršlja gora, to which we have another 10 minutes of easy walking.

Along the route: Križan (1040m), Šišernik (1259m), Dom na Uršlji gori (1680m)

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