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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Krokar and Škocjan Caves

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
582 km
Riding-time estimate
12 h 37
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

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Why this ride

From Osilnica it runs 582 km to Osilnica; allow about 12 h 37 of riding. It goes by way of Snežnik-Ždrocle, Škocjan Caves, Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the and back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Krokar

    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.

    Read the complete Krokar write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Krokar is where the day begins. Next is Snežnik-Ždrocle.

  2. 2. Snežnik-Ždrocle

    Ždrocle is a fragment of primeval beech forest on the slopes of Snežnik, the big karst mountain in the far south of Slovenia, close to the Croatian border, and it is one of the components of the great European UNESCO listing of ancient and primeval beech forests. That listing stretches from the Carpathians to Spain, but here you are in its Dinaric heart, where beech, fir and maple grow on a chaotic surface of limestone sinkholes, sharp ridges and hollows full of moss. Snežnik itself rises to just under eighteen hundred metres and holds its snow late, which is how it got its name.

    Read the complete Snežnik-Ždrocle write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Snežnik-Ždrocle comes up about 88 km into the recorded legs. Next is Škocjan Caves.

  3. 3. Škocjan Caves

    Underneath the sleepy stone villages of the Slovenian Karst, a river called the Reka plunges into the earth and carves one of the largest underground canyons known anywhere. The Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO site since 1986, are the reason the word karst became the scientific name for this kind of limestone landscape everywhere in the world. Inside, a narrow footbridge spans the Reka gorge far above the roaring water, the chamber walls disappear into darkness, and the scale is so huge that your mind struggles to accept it is all underground.

    Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 147 km into the recorded legs you reach Škocjan Caves. Next is Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the.

  4. 4. Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

    Deep in a wooded gorge above Idrija, where the stream called Idrijska Bela tumbles over pale limestone, stands one of the strangest pieces of old engineering in Slovenia: a klavže, a water barrier built of massive dressed stone blocks across the narrow valley. Its job had nothing to do with power or flood control. Idrija's mercury mine, one of the two largest in the world for centuries, devoured timber for its shafts and smelters, and the forests close to town were soon exhausted. So the miners built these dams on mountain streams, let water build up behind them, piled cut logs in the bed below and then opened the gates. The released flood swept the timber all the way down to Idrija, where it was caught at a rake across the river.

    Read the complete Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the, about halfway. Next is Škocjan Caves.

  5. 5. Škocjan Caves

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Škocjan Caves sits at 175 km, about halfway. Next is back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the.

  6. 6. back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the comes up about 357 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Škocjan Caves.

  7. 7. back through Škocjan Caves

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Škocjan Caves write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 433 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Škocjan Caves. Next is back through Snežnik-Ždrocle.

  8. 8. back through Snežnik-Ždrocle

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Snežnik-Ždrocle write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Snežnik-Ždrocle, late in the day. Next is Krokar.

  9. 9. Krokar

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Krokar write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    The route ends here after 582 km.

Leg by leg

Krokar to Snežnik-Ždrocle

Krokar → Snežnik-Ždrocle is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Snežnik-Ždrocle to Škocjan Caves

Snežnik-Ždrocle → Škocjan Caves is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Škocjan Caves to Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

Škocjan Caves → Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the to Škocjan Caves

Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the → Škocjan Caves is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Škocjan Caves to back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the

Škocjan Caves → back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the to back through Škocjan Caves

back through Idrijska Bela - Belca Water Barrier on the → back through Škocjan Caves is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Škocjan Caves to back through Snežnik-Ždrocle

back through Škocjan Caves → back through Snežnik-Ždrocle is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Snežnik-Ždrocle to Krokar

back through Snežnik-Ždrocle → Krokar is 88 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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