Krokar is one of the last true virgin forests in Europe, a reserve of beech and fir on a steep slope above the Kolpa river in southern Slovenia, where humans have never logged or managed the woods. Trees grow, fall and rot as they have done since the end of the Ice Age, and the result is an extraordinary tangle of giant trunks, dead wood and fresh saplings, home to fungi, beetles and birds that need old, undisturbed forest. Since 2017, Krokar has been part of the UNESCO site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. The reserve itself is strictly protected and not open to visitors; you can walk along its edge, but the heart of it is left alone, which is precisely the point.
The surrounding Kočevje region is one of the most heavily forested parts of Europe, and it is famous for its brown bears. Slovenia has a healthy bear population, and the Kočevje forests are the core of their range, along with wolves and lynx. You are unlikely to see one from the road, but they are there, and locals are matter-of-fact about them.
The region also has a melancholy history. For six centuries it was home to the Gottscheers, a German-speaking community settled here in the Middle Ages. In 1941, under an agreement between Hitler and Mussolini, almost all of them were resettled elsewhere, and after the war the area was largely emptied. Many villages were abandoned and swallowed by the forest; their churches and cemeteries can still be found among the trees.
The Kolpa river forms the border with Croatia, and in summer it is one of the warmest rivers in Slovenia, with clear water, pebble beaches and swimming spots where locals spend lazy afternoons. The road along the river is narrow, quiet and winding, following the valley through small villages and forest, with Croatia on the other bank. The roads through the forest between Kočevje and the Kolpa climb over wooded ridges with good surfaces and very little traffic, though logging trucks appear without warning.
Kočevje, about thirteen kilometres away, is the nearest town with fuel, shops and restaurants. Delnice, on the Croatian side, is another option. Slovenian motorways require a vignette, including for motorcycles; the minor roads here do not.