Vitanje - Stenica

Access to starting point:
A) From the Ljubljana - Maribor highway, take the Celje - center exit and continue driving towards Vojnik. In Vojnik, continue left towards Dobrna, and follow the mentioned road to the settlement Nova Cerkev, where signs for Vitanje direct us to the right. Further on, drive on a narrower and winding road, by which we arrive in the settlement Vitanje. Park in an appropriate place somewhere in the center of the settlement.
B) From the Maribor - Ljubljana highway, take the Slovenske Konjice exit, then follow the road towards the mentioned settlement. From Slovenske Konjice, continue driving on the regional road towards Celje, and follow it to the settlement Stranice, where at the roundabout we turn right towards Vitanje. Follow the road to the mentioned settlement, where somewhere in the center of the settlement we park in an appropriate place.
C) From the Velenje - Slovenj Gradec road, at the settlement Gornji Dolič turn right (if coming from the direction of Slovenj Gradec, then left) towards Vitanje. When we arrive in the mentioned settlement, park in an appropriate place in the center of the settlement.

Route description:
From the place where we have parked, we first walk to the main intersection in Vitanje, from there we continue along the main road towards Slovenske Konjice. Along the main road we walk a few hundred meters, then a signpost directs us right downhill to the nearby small bridge. After the small bridge, we climb the road past the kindergarten to Cvetlična ulica. When we climb along it to the intersection with Štajnhof street, we continue left, and we climb the road to the last house, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the sharp left bend. At the end of the bend, a macadam road branches off to the right, and we walk on it only 2 meters, then continue left into the forest (possible by car to here).
We continue on the marked path, which begins to ascend steeply through the forest. Higher up, the path becomes even steeper, then it brings us to a viewpoint with a bench, where it flattens. Further on, the path leads past a prefab house, and higher, when the forest ends, also past the Vodovnik farm. Here the markings temporarily end, and we continue across the yard of the mentioned farm and then along the forest road back into the forest. We continue along the road for about a minute, then a narrower path branches off to the right, along which we continue the ascent. Further on, we ascend somewhat more steeply through the forest again, and the steepness eases somewhat higher when we reach the next forest road, which is usually quite muddy. We continue along the road, which at the next intersection we follow left, then after a few minutes right. Now we walk along the forest road, which runs parallel to a wide cart track. When the forest thins out, the markings disappear again, and we arrive at a very wide and well-maintained road, which we just cross. We continue along the serpentine path, which leads us through low forest and ferns. Higher up, the path returns to the forest, and ahead of us is the last steep section. For some time we ascend steeply, then before reaching the ridge, where a short path branches off to the nearby viewpoint. When we reach the ridge, the path flattens, from there a path branches off to the Marijina roka shrine. From the junction, another 5 minutes of walking follow, and we arrive at the top of Stenica.

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