Tour of Žiri

Žiri is a town of 5000 inhabitants and lies in a 'basin' surrounded by 1000 meters high hills. Local tourist club has marked an excellent cycling trail, which runs across all nearby summits with great views of surrounding hills, dotted with churches and lonesome farms. 'Tour of Žiri' is geographically divided to the east and the west 'loop' and if the entire tour is too exhausting, you can simply do it in two parts.

Gallery

Where to sleep

Basic information

Location

Žiri Gorenjska

Difficulty

Duration

5.5 h

Distance

53 km

Start point elevation

480 m

Highest point

987 m

Total vertical climb

1570 m

Type of trail


asphalt, dirt road, trail

Starting point:
You can come to Žiri from Škofja Loka (through Poljanska valley), Logatec (through Rovte village), Vrhinka (through Podlipa and Smrečje) or from western Slovenia through Idrija or Cerkno. Park at a parking lot in the center of Žiri.

Description:
'Tour of Žiri' is nicely marked with small wooden signposts, so no special 'orientation' description is needed. On all crossroads without markings simply go straight or keep on the main road. From the parking lot in the center of Žiri go past the town church towards Logatec; the first marking directs you to the right towards Sovra village after about 4 kilometers. Drive through the following villages: Sovra, Vrsnik, Govejk, Ledinske Krnice, Korita and ascend to Mrzli Vrh summit. The path around the summit runs on a grassy cart road, which demands slightly more leg strength, but the view is fantastic. There are several options for descending: the longer version of the tour continues northwards and a bit later turns down eastwards to Jarčja Dolina and on to Selo hamlet (see signposts). In Selo you come to the main road 'Škofja Loka – Žiri'. Go right and after a few meters turn left towards Zabrežnik. Ascend up to the Žirovski Vrh ridge, and carry on 'up and down' on a panoramic road past Javorč and Goli Vrh until Smrečje and onwards to Sv. Trije Kralji summit. If you got tired on the way, you can turn right on practically any crossroad and descend back to Žiri. From Sv. Trije Kralji summit descend towards Opale; after that comes a short ascent to Goropeke and the fast descent back to Žiri. The whole east loop of the tour is dotted with bunkers of Rupnik's line - a defense system that was made before the 2nd world war for protection against Italian invasions. Some of the bunkers are arranged for visits.

Highest points:
Mrzli Vrh: 987 m
Javorč hut: 900 m
Sv. Trije Kralji summit: 884 m

Length (duration, km):
Žiri - Mrzli vrh - Selo (west loop): 2.30 h (25 km)
Selo - Javorč - Smrečje - Sv. Trije Kralji - Goropeke - Žiri (east loop): 3 h (28 km)
Total 5.30 h, 53 km

Type of trail:
70% asphalt (37 km)
23% dirt road (12.5 km)
7% tractor road (3.5 km)