The best mountain hikes around Kranj

This viewpoint, high on Sveti Jošt nad Kranjem, reveals the beautiful Upper Carniola region and the impressive peaks of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps. Particularly prominent is the mighty peak of Grintovec which, at 8,392 feet (2,558 m), is the highest in the chain. From the viewpoint, it's just a short hike to the summit of Sveti Jošt.

A conspicuous sight above Kranj, Sveti Jošt is a popular objective. Named for the church that sits proud upon its summit, the hill is also home to a restaurant and other buildings. Myriad trails ascend to the top, which rewards with excellent views across the Upper Carniola region towards the Kamnik-Savinja Alps.

This beautiful church crowns the hill of Sveti Jošt nad Kranjem above Kranj and is an iconic landmark of the city and superb hiking objective. Sveti Jošt (Saint Judoc in English) church was first mentioned in 973, though most of the current building dates from the 18th century. Its Baroque architecture and the superb views across the Kamnik and Julian Alps make it a particularly photogenic church.

Beautiful peak, with a beautiful view, the path across Ježa is not the easiest, but the views pay off

A popular excursion point for the wider surroundings of Kranj, for climbing with a dog, running, cycling ...

Tolsti vrh or Zaloška gora, as it is called in places on the south side of the village Zalog at the foot, is the highest peak of Kriška gora, an elongated ridge between Tržiška Bistrica in the west, the Lomščica valley in the north and the Gorenjska plain between Trstenik and Križe in the south. Kriški gora is also called Kokovnica (in some documents Kukovnica) in the villages on the northern side of the mountain, after the words kok or kuk, which means a stone horn that rises from a grassy slope. The north side is wooded, in some places up to the summit ridge, which is quite rocky and notched by ravines. Even the southern slopes are mainly covered by forest, only the upper steep slopes are grassy. The grasslands are rich in mountain flora. Approximately in the middle of the southern slope is a large terrace with the village of Gozd, fields and meadows and a mountain shelter. From Tolsti vrh and the ridge of Kriška gora there is a very beautiful view of the Gorenjska plain with Kranj, Golnik, Radovljica and other places, the valley of Lomščica, Košuta, Julijce and other mountains, and the most beautiful is the view of the nearby Storžič.

Kriška gora (old name Gojška planina, after the town of Gozd (pronounced Gojzd in the local dialect), also known to the people of Tržič as Kokovnica) is a good 5 km long ridge that stretches east of Tržič, west of Storžič, south of Košuta and north of Golnika and Udin borscht. The mountain is named after the village of Križe, which lies right at its foot. At 1471 m there is Koča na Kriški gora, to which a freight cable car runs from the village of Gozd. The highest peak of the ridge is Tolsti vrh (1715 m). Sometimes the western part of the ridge was not overgrown with forest, as hayfields were regularly mowed and the cut grass was used to feed horses in the Križ barracks.

The hut stands on top of the sunny Mežnar meadow on the western part of the elongated ridge of Kriška gora. PD Križe started building it in 1950; in 1951 it was already open in an emergency. The completely renovated cottage was ceremoniously opened on June 28, 1953. In 1963, an extension with a dining room and a common bed was added. In 1975, a freight cable car was built from the village of Gozd. In 1981, the cottage was enlarged and renovated. As it became too small and no longer met the more modern requirements of visitors, PD Križe decided to increase and restore it. In 1991, the old hut was demolished and a new one was built, and the ground floor premises were completed. Views: From the terrace in front of the hut there is a beautiful view to the east, south and west, and from the nearby ridge above the hut also to the north. On the east side, in front of us are the grassy sunny slopes and ridge of Kriška gora, which ends with Tolsti vrh, Storžič rises behind it, and to the right of it we can see part of Krvavec; in the south there is a wide view of the Ljubljana Basin and the lower part of the Gorenjska plain with Kranj and the hills that surround them from the western part of the Posavje hills through the Crimea and Polhov Gradec hills to the Škofja Loka mountains and on the horizon to Snežnik, Javorniki and Trnovski gozd; in the west the forested Jelovica and Pokljuka rise, and behind us we can see Julijce with Triglav and in this direction also Lake Bled, and in front of it the upper part of the Gorenjska plain with Radovljica; the view to the west stops at nearby Dobrča and north of it at Stol and Begunjščica; in the north we see the Lom valley from Tržič to Storžič and the mighty Košuta massif with all its peaks from Veliki vrh to Košutnikov turn.