Velika Planina and the Logar Valley: A Kamnik–Savinja Alps Guide
Slovenia's quieter second range, under an hour from Ljubljana: the herdsmen's huts on Velika Planina, the Logar Valley and Rinka Falls, and the huts between.
Ask anyone about mountains in Slovenia and you will be told about the Julian Alps — Triglav, Bled, Bohinj, the Vršič Pass, the Soča. Every English-language guide covers the same range, and it deserves the attention. But there is a second range, it is closer to Ljubljana than the first, and almost nobody writes about it.
The Kamnik–Savinja Alps begin half an hour north of the capital and run east along the Austrian border. They hold two things with no real equivalent anywhere in the Alps: a plateau covered in oval, shingle-roofed herdsmen's huts you can rent for the night, and a glacier-cut valley ending in a ninety-metre waterfall. This guide covers both, the huts on the saddles between them, and one thing about the most famous of those huts that most pages online still get wrong.
A second range, and how it differs from the Julians
Geologically they are cousins: the Southern Limestone Alps, the same family as the Julians and the Dolomites — pale limestone and dolomite, bare summits, glacial valleys and karst plateaus. The highest peak is Grintovec (2,558 m), with Jezerska Kočna (2,540 m), Skuta (2,532 m), Planjava (2,394 m), Ojstrica (2,350 m), Brana (2,253 m) and Turska gora (2,251 m) behind it.
Three practical differences matter more than the geology.
- They are closer. The main trailhead at Kamniška Bistrica is about fifty minutes from Ljubljana — closer than Bled. The Logar Valley, on the far side of the range, is around 100 km and an hour and a half.
- They are steeper. The range is compact, the approaches short, the walls above the valley heads close to vertical. You gain height fast: a blessing on a short trip, a warning on a hot one.
- They are quieter. We found no published visitor count for this range to set against Triglav National Park's, so treat that as an impression rather than a statistic — but the hut network is far sparser, and nothing here queues the way the Julians do in August.
Velika planina: a herdsmen's settlement you can sleep in
Velika planina is a karst plateau north-east of Kamnik, roughly 5.6 square kilometres of grazing pasture mostly above the treeline. Its working settlements lie between about 1,200 and 1,667 m, and its high point, Gradišče, is 1,666 m.
What is actually up there
The huts are the point. They are built on an oval ground plan, with steep roofs of spruce shingles — skodle — reaching almost to the grass, no chimney and barely any windows. Nothing else in the Alps looks like them.
How many there are depends on what you count. Slovenia's national tourist board gives around 140 huts across the whole plateau; a detailed 2017 survey counted 64 in the Velika planina settlement proper, of which only about 17 were still actively worked. Both are defensible — they measure different things.
What stands today is a reconstruction. German forces burned the settlement in the winter of 1944/45, destroying effectively all of it along with the chapel. In 1949 the architect Vlasto Kopač, a pupil of Jože Plečnik, drew seven standard hut designs so the rebuilt settlement would keep the old form. It worked, which is why the place still photographs like the nineteenth century.
Two things are worth walking to. Preskarjeva bajta is the only surviving reconstruction of the original oval type, rebuilt in summer 1945 by Andrej Preskar on the site of the burned original and now a small museum of pastoral life; in season it opens roughly 10:00–15:00, with a trnič cheese-making demonstration at 13:00. The chapel of Marija Snežna on the knoll above the settlement was designed by Plečnik himself in the late 1930s — sources date it between 1937 and 1939 — burned with everything else, and rebuilt in 1988 to Kopač's plans. Its feast day is 5 August.
Getting up: cable car, chairlift, or your own legs
The cable car — a reversible aerial tramway, nihalka, not a gondola — runs from a free car park at Kamniška Bistrica (around 580–600 m) to a top station at 1,412 m in about five minutes. It opened in 1964 and runs all year on four seasonal timetables: roughly hourly in summer and the shoulder seasons, sharply reduced on winter weekdays, every half hour in the ski season. Wind stops it.
From the top station it is a 45-minute walk and 200 m of ascent to the herdsmen's village. A six-seat chairlift carries on upwards — note that Šimnovec (1,407 m) is its bottom station, not its top, a detail plenty of write-ups reverse. It runs via Zeleni rob to Gradišče (1,665 m), replacing an old two-seater, and opened for the 2024/25 season. From Gradišče the village is ten to fifteen minutes downhill.
You can also walk the lot: from Kraljev hrib beside the cable car base (about 540 m) to Gradišče is 1½ to 3 hours and some 1,215 m of climb on an easy marked path. Tickets come as cable-car-only or cable-car-plus-chairlift, with a separate July–August tariff; prices change every season, so check the operator's current list at velikaplanina.si.
The season — when the herdsmen are there
This is the fact that decides when to come. The herdsmen bring cattle up in June and take them down in early to mid-September — about three months on the mountain. The traditional ascent day was the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June, though the date is now set by the weather and often falls earlier.
Outside that window the plateau is still beautiful, and in winter it is a small ski area. But the settlement is shuttered, and the thing you came for — smoke from a shingled roof, cattle bells, someone selling you trnič — is not happening.
Where you sleep on the plateau
Two quite different options, and it is worth being precise about which is which.
Rented herdsmen's huts. The cable car operator lets more than twenty huts on the plateau overnight — traditional shingled outside, modernised and self-catering inside. This is the photogenic option, and the one almost nobody outside Slovenia knows about. Summer weekends book up well ahead.
Staffed mountain huts on Mala planina. Immediately south, three proper domovi sit within a few minutes of each other: Domžalski dom, Črnuški dom and Jarški dom na Mali Planini — real huts with beds, wardens and hot food, and at least two advertise year-round opening, which is unusual here.
One correction, because it appears on a lot of itineraries: Zeleni rob is a restaurant, not accommodation. Do not plan a night there.
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The Logar Valley: seven kilometres of glacier-cut wall
Logarska dolina is on the other side of the range, reached from the Savinja rather than from Kamnik: a textbook U-shaped glacial trough, roughly 7 km long and at least half a kilometre wide, walled by Ojstrica, Planjava and the Rinka peaks. It has been a Landscape Park since 1987 — about 24.75 km², with some 35 people living on isolated farmsteads inside it.
Cars pay to enter: at the time of writing roughly €10 per car, collected at weekends and on holidays in April–June and September–October, and daily through July and August. On foot or by bike it is free, as is entry for alpine club members before 08:00. Current rates are published by the park at logarska-dolina.si.
Rinka Falls
At the valley head, Slap Rinka falls in a single free-standing arc that Slovenian sources — the park itself and the national tourist board among them — consistently give as 90 m. You will also see 105 m quoted, usually in English-language sources; that covers the whole cascade rather than the single drop you stand under. Both are defensible; 90 m is what you see.
It is the first source of the Savinja, which emerges from a spring at about 1,280 m just above. From the car park it is a 15–20 minute walk to the foot of the falls, and another fifteen minutes of steep but easy path to Orlovo gnezdo, the Eagle's Nest — a tiny refreshment hut built into the rock at 1,120–1,150 m, level with the lip of the waterfall. Do the extra fifteen minutes; almost everyone stops at the bottom.
Okrešelj — and the hut that is not there
Above the falls the valley steps up into Okrešelj, a glacial cirque at roughly 1,400 m ringed by Mrzla gora, Turska gora, Križ and the Rinka summits. It is about an hour up from the Rinka car park on an easy marked trail, and one of the finest places in the Slovenian Alps to wander for a few hours without climbing anything.
Now the thing to know. Frischaufov dom na Okrešlju — the hut that stood there for over a century, and that dozens of trip reports still describe as an overnight stop — burned down on 6 November 2019, an electrical fault. It has not reopened. What stands there now is a temporary wooden cabin serving a limited menu at weekends and on holidays, in good weather and safe avalanche conditions. The Slovenian Alpine Association's listing is blunt: prenočišč NI — no accommodation. A replacement with around 48 beds is under construction, with an opening date that has slipped repeatedly and is still unconfirmed.
Plan accordingly. The nearest beds are Dom planincev down on the valley floor, or Koča na Klemenči jami pod Ojstrico (1,208 m) under Ojstrica. From Okrešelj you can carry on up to the saddle in about 1½ hours. Check the hut's current status at pzs.si before you set off.
Robanov kot, Matkov kot and the panoramic road
The Logar Valley has two quieter siblings. Robanov kot — a Landscape Park since 1987, and protected as a natural landmark as early as 1950 — runs 1,423 hectares up to the wall below Ojstrica with a fraction of the visitors. Matkov kot is wilder and barely developed; its best-known feature, Matkov škaf, is a perennial snowfield designated a natural monument. Linking all three is the Solčava Panoramic Road, past the hill farms at Podolševa and Sleme: published lengths run from about 25 km for the core circuit to 37 km for the full network, depending which branches you count. Mostly asphalt with gravel sections, and fine in an ordinary car.
The high huts: what our database actually holds
We hold 87 huts in the Kamnik–Savinja Alps region. The figures below are what our records contain, drawn from OpenStreetMap and alpine club sources — useful for planning, not a substitute for ringing the warden.
| Hut | Altitude | Beds (as recorded) | Season (as recorded) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bivak Pavla Kemperla | 2,102 m | 8 | Unstaffed bivouac |
| Bivak pod Skuto na Malih Podih | 2,045 m | 10 | Unstaffed bivouac |
| Kamniška koča na Kamniškem sedlu | 1,864 m | 56 (40 in dormitory) | June to October |
| Cojzova koča na Kokrskem sedlu | 1,793 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Kranjska koča na Ledinah | 1,700 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Češka koča na Spodnjih Ravneh | 1,542 m | 76 | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Domžalski dom na Mali Planini | 1,540 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Črnuški dom na Mali Planini | 1,526 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Jarški dom na Mali Planini | 1,520 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Frischaufov dom na Okrešlju | 1,396 m | — | Summer staffed (see note below) |
| Koča na Klemenči jami pod Ojstrico | 1,208 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Gorniški center Davo Karničar | 1,020 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
| Dom v Kamniški Bistrici | 600 m | — | Summer staffed · closed in winter |
What the table does not tell you
- Bed counts are mostly missing. Of the 87 huts we hold here, only six carry a recorded capacity — and where a number exists, treat it as a starting point. Our record gives Češka koča 76 places; the club's own listings describe roughly 53 across rooms and dormitory. Confirm directly.
- "Summer staffed" is a floor, not a ceiling. None of the 87 is recorded as year-round, yet at least two of the Mala planina huts advertise winter opening. The field records what the source said, and huts here change their hours faster than any database tracks.
- Frischaufov dom is the exception that proves the point. Our record still marks it summer staffed, because that is what the source data says. As of this writing it has no beds at all.
For scale: 21 of the 87 sit at or above 1,500 m, and only three at or above 1,800 m. The huts here are low and the mountains are steep, which is exactly why the days are short and sharp rather than long and gentle.
Three ways to put it together
Two days, no car in the mountains
Get to Kamniška Bistrica, ride the cable car up, walk to the herdsmen's village, and sleep either in a rented hut on the plateau or at one of the three domovi on Mala planina. Walk the plateau in the morning before the first cable car brings anyone up, then come down by the old shepherds' path. It is the easiest introduction to the range, and the one to pick for people not yet sure they like mountains.
The classic: Kamniška Bistrica to Kamniško sedlo
From Dom v Kamniški Bistrici (600 m) the standard route climbs to Kamniško sedlo (1,903 m), between Brana and Planjava, in about 3½ to 3¾ hours. Kamniška koča na Kamniškem sedlu sits just below at 1,864 m, with around 56 beds and a warden from June into autumn. It is the hut of this range — the one everything else connects to. The best version does not return the way it came: drop north from the saddle in about 1½ hours to Okrešelj and walk out past Rinka Falls into the Logar Valley, crossing the range in a day and a half.
The other side: Jezersko and Češka koča
On the north-western flank, Jezersko sits below the pass to Austrian Carinthia and is a designated Alpine mountaineering village. From Zgornje Jezersko it is about two hours up to Češka koča na Spodnjih Ravneh (1,542 m) — the Czech Hut, built by the Czech branch of the Slovene Alpine Society in Prague and opened on 26 July 1900, and often called the oldest Slovenian hut still keeping its original character.
In the valley below is Gorniški center Davo Karničar (1,020 m), named for the Jezersko skier who on 7 October 2000 became the first person to ski continuously from the summit of Everest to Base Camp — 3,500 vertical metres in 4 hours 40 minutes — and who by 2006 had skied all Seven Summits. He died at Jezersko in September 2019, aged 56, in a tree-felling accident.
Getting there
- For Velika planina and Kamniška Bistrica: north from Ljubljana through Kamnik, roughly 35 km and about 45 minutes to the cable car base. Large free car park and a bus stop, so it is doable without a car.
- For the Logar Valley: east then north through the Upper Savinja valley — about 100 km from Ljubljana, an hour and a half. Public transport is thin; this half wants a car.
- Between the two: there is no road over the range. Driving round takes well over two hours. Walking over the Kamnik saddle takes a day, and is much the better story.
Practicalities
- Book ahead in July and August. The plateau huts and Kamniška koča both fill on summer weekends; if you are caught out, our guide to a hut that is fully booked covers the options.
- Bring cash. Card acceptance at Slovenian huts is improving but not universal, and the temporary cabin at Okrešelj is exactly the sort of place that will not take one.
- Alpine club membership pays. PZS members — and members of reciprocal clubs such as the DAV, ÖAV, CAI and SAC — get meaningful discounts on overnight rates.
- These are short, steep days. Valley floors sit at 600–850 m and the walls go to 2,500 m. Carry more water than the distances suggest.
- Pack properly. Slovenian huts follow the same conventions as the rest of the Alps — our alpine hut packing list and hut etiquette guide apply here unchanged.
The Kamnik–Savinja Alps are where Slovenians go when they want mountains without the drive. For everyone else they are a gap on the map: a plateau of shingled huts you can actually sleep in, a valley ending in a ninety-metre waterfall, and a saddle at 1,903 m joining the two. Start with our complete guide to hiking in Slovenia, compare it with the Julian Alps next door, and browse every hut we hold across the Kamnik–Savinja Alps when you are ready to pick a bed.
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