Bloke

Great start to the VD - we set off on 26th April from bottom of Nanos, and took 9 days including some rest. Warning to others looking at this time it was pretty cold. We camped a couple of times but froze in our summer gear (yes, probably our fault ;)) so mainly stuck to huts. Lots of options and everyone super friendly. Beautiful forest road walking, no bear sightings but a few paw prints. Trail sometimes badly marked/overgrown etc (as highlighted by others). We also got covered in ticks so should do thorough checks at the end of each day when on trail. Views from top of Sneznik are spectacular, would recommend staying at the hut. Run by a lovely family.

HI! This is the link to full description with images for Slovenian section: https://medium.com/@alex.inter9/locals-guide-to-the-slovenian-section-of-the-via-dinarica-your-ultimate-hiking-adventure-a0280f9310b5 I’ve noticed that detailed guides for the Slovenian section of the Via Dinarica are hard to come by, leaving some hikers unsure of what to see or how to plan. As a Slovenian, I’ve put together this guide to help you navigate this route. My version tweaks the original a bit, adding must-see sights while trimming it a bit to keep it short and include things worth seeing. I hope it helps you get the most out of your journey! To make things easier, I’ve included a .gpx file for the track and another with .gpx points (places, descriptions, and info). You can download them at the end of the post. Gpx trails Slovenian section via Dinarica .gpx trail: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LBVdA82kiz9ecyBpONP8he_0Dnas8AQ4/view?usp=sharing Slovenian section via Dinarica .gpx info poins, places of interests: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ux4BBlr3RdJek-fVhE64oFfY5-hqkXDn/view?usp=sharing Enjoy your via Dinarica! Alexander

Skipped few parts, beautiful forests, at the most part pretty well marked, a lot of resupplies spots, a lot friendly people

I also took the shortcut between Veliki Bloke and Nova Vas, but escaped the asfalt there too. There is a good trail above the road that are not on different maps I have, but they are marked. I only couldnt find the start because of construction work, so I did a bushwalk starting 100meters earlier. Task for a next person to find the start :-)

Overall a nice trail. I skipped from Velike Bloke to Novi Vas as the previous comment suggested. Lots of resupply opportunities and nice forests, even though a lot of gravel roads. Mostly marked well enough but you need to keep this app handy to stay on the trail!

Beautiful route with lots of things to see on the way. The path between Nova Vas and the Cross cave is completely overgrown at some places, I think due to the storm. Had to go back to the car road and walk all around to reach the cave

Good start for the VD in Slovenia. A lot of gravel road in the forest so it was ok. We like the area of Masun, nice view at the Sneznik peak. Some boring part on asphalt road especially the part from the end of Slivinica to nova vas. Vojkova koca was open (sunday), food and no free water Water point in the forest After vojkova koca at 45°47′29.79″N 14°04′07.46″E Water point at Smihel pod nanosom SuperMarket Fama (closed sunday) in bukovje. Water point(tap of rainwater) behind the church sv.Lovrenc Lovska koca was closed on monday, nice place to pitch a tent, non water available. Hut at velika Slivinica was open (not everyday), food, water, room(?) Water point next to the church in Ulaka. Water point in sveta trojica Water point in the forest after storovo. Koca draga karolina in Sneznik was open (sunday) Bar Toni open After 2pm

Much better marked and maintained then the north Croatian stages. Lot of gravel but beautiful forest. Bar Toni in Babno Polje has good cake. Hut on Snesznik was closed. Shelter next to it really basic. Restaurant / Pension in Mašun is amazing. Super nice people and really good food.

Just finished this part and really liked it (note that the route was updated and this section has different path compared to the map/gpx for full white trail, not sure why). There’s quite a lot of travel on gravel roads but I didn’t really mind since the nature was amazing, some asphalt roads, that makes it only 4*. Around Sneznik there definitely are bears (see photo), locals advised me to be a bit more noisy in the forest when walking alone and if you spot a bear make sure to respectfully avoid them or go back the way you came, I didn’t hang my food when camping wild and was told that bears avoid humans in the night as well. Most of the trail was well marked, not directly as VD but wasn’t really using the map too much. There was more places to shop food and water pumps in villages than I expected. Natural highlight for me were the Skocjan caves, just magical and accessible for anyone without tours or entry fees. I stayed at a hut on Slivnica mountain — super friendly, great food and views — and at Sviscaki (under Sneznik peak) — very cool little village with great hospitality. On the other hand I wouldn’t really recommend staying at Volčje lake as it’s super touristy and not really special. If you want to stay in a youth hostel there is one in Nova Vas called Old School Villa — I think the one in the description here is on the old trail, this one is the only one at the Bloke plateau. When I am back I might add more details/gpx waypoints to fkalab.wordpress.com