Below the climbing wall

Osp (parking lot by the campsite) – Prebeneg – Socerb Castle – Varda – Črni Kal – Stara Gabrovica – Osp

From the parking lot by the campsite, we start upward into the village (water) and follow the markings that guide us past the church of St. Thomas, turning left uphill onto a forest road that moderately rises through the forest towards the northwest. When the marked path turns steeply right uphill, we continue straight ahead almost horizontally to a torrential ravine.

Here we turn right, and after 30 meters, we turn left onto a less used trail that steeply climbs through a pine forest to a clearing below the village of Prebeneg.

We continue straight uphill along the path, right along the border at the upper forest road, cross an asphalt road, and arrive at the village of Socerb.

We ascend (past the village chapel and a pond) to the rocky edge by the castle, where a magnificent view opens onto Trieste and a large part of Istria. The castle with an inn is certainly worth a visit. We walk along the asphalt road that leads from the village to the castle, continuing to the nearby Holy Cave with an underground church, the only one in Slovenia, and further along the road to the edge of the extensive karst plateau.

A wooden signpost directs us left (we cross a wire and follow markings) southeast along the rocky edge almost to the Koper–Kozina road.

We descend below the rocky edge, then ascend to the scenic rocky peak Varda, which we cross southward or bypass on the forest trail to the right side.

When we meet the forest road coming from Kastelc, we turn left uphill, cross the road in an underpass, and with a gentle ascent arrive above the Črnotiče quarry.

We continue through a beautiful pine forest, which leads us to the road to Podgorje.

Then the path descends to a lower plateau and continues on a gravel road along the edge of the cliff above the village of Črni Kal.

From here, you can decide to ascend left uphill along the cliff edge past a water reservoir to the ruins of an old 11th-century castle perched on a rocky tower, separate from the main cliff. Alternatively, you can continue straight under the climbing wall to upper Črni Kal. Here you can see the Benk House, built in 1489, the oldest example of a rural house in Slovenia, and the leaning bell tower next to the church of St. Valentine.

Then we descend into lower Črni Kal and continue along the road past the monument to the Overseas Brigades left and then right under the mighty motorway viaduct towards old Gabrovica, which was burned down in May 1944.

We follow the path gently downhill on the forest road past the Mišja Peč sinkhole, which, together with the nearby Osapska wall, is among the most well-known European climbing areas.

Just a short walk along the valley floor, and we are back at the starting point in Osp, one of the oldest Slovenian villages.

Here, the path to the starting point leads to a fork where you can still ascend under the Great Wall, which hides the entrance to Grad cave and the source of the Osapska River.