Zgornje Poljčane - Boč (via Balunjača)

Access to starting point:
From the Ljubljana - Maribor highway, take the Slovenske Konjice and Poljčane exit. At the first intersection after leaving the highway, continue left in the direction of Poljčan (right Slovenske Konjice). The road then takes us through Dražo vas, Žiče and Loče. In the village Loče, we come to a roundabout, where we continue "straight" in the direction of Poljčan (the exit from the roundabout is not marked). A little further on, the road brings us to a larger intersection, where we continue right in the direction of Zgornje Poljčane (left Poljčane). We follow this road to the village, where the road sign for Boč directs us left uphill. Further on, we drive to the first hiking signposts beside which there is a parking lot where we park.

Route description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the forest educational path, which initially runs along a cart track and ascends along the bottom of the valley. After a good 10 minutes of walking, the path crosses a road and continues ascending along the valley beside which on the left side we notice a feeding site for animals. The cart track, which ascends more and more steeply, changes in the right bend into a footpath, which in a diagonal ascent moves away from the valley along which we walked. The path ahead then starts to ascend steeply and brings us in a few minutes to a cart track, which we only cross (the path to the right goes to the Dom na Boču hut).
The path ahead ascends moderately and past a cross that we notice beside the path brings us to the next cart track. Further on, we follow the cart track, which ascends gently and after a few minutes turns into a footpath. The footpath quickly starts to ascend steeply and after a few minutes brings us to a junction, where we have two options for continuing. The left path, which we take, is called the path via Balunjača, the right one steep (both paths join higher up). The path via Balunjača then crosses the slopes of Boč in a moderate ascent to the rocky cliffs that we see in front of us. The path then, with the aid of safety devices, crosses the foot of these cliffs. The passage under the cliffs is not difficult but somewhat exposed to falling rocks. At the foot of the cliffs, we can notice some smaller cavities, which brighten the day especially for younger hikers. Further on, the path ascends steeply and in a few minutes brings us to the point where our path and the steep path join again. The steepness of the path then gradually eases and the path brings us to a cart track that ascends gently beside the military area. Once we leave the vicinity of the military area, there follows only five minutes of walking along the summit slope, which is still forested. At the top, the ascent is not yet over. In front of us, we see a 20 m high lookout tower, which we climb via steep stairs. The ascent to the top of the tower rewards us with a beautiful view.

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