The Lovrenc lakes, dark windows in the peat bog

Visiting: boardwalks and tower

In the middle of the bog stands a wooden tower, and the tourist board says the best views are from the one beside the highest pool. Panels beneath the tower explain the plants and animals. Boardwalks link the tower with the woods, and you walk along them without ever entering the bog.

Above all, this is a protected nature reserve. RTV reports that when scientists found one of the boardwalks was damaging the habitat, it was closed and the vegetation left to recover. The authorities realised the bog will only stay special if it’s left alone, with as little interference as possible.

What the Lovrenc lakes are

RTV Slovenia explains that the Lovrenc moors are the largest wetland in Slovenia and one of the southernmost in Europe. They formed about 8,000 years ago, when rainwater was trapped above an impermeable layer of silicate rock, the same rock that makes Pohorje Slovenia’s only silicate range, according to the tourist board. Peat gradually built up on top, reaching 3 m in places.

There are about 20 small lakes. Some are no bigger than ponds, and all have very dark, almost black water because of the peat beneath them. Around them stretch gentle meadows and moss-covered wetland.

Rare plants and dragonflies

What really sets the bog apart is its life. RTV mentions plants that grow only in habitats like this, such as the Rannoch-rush and a rare subspecies of crowberry, plus two endangered dragonflies, the moorland hawker and the white-faced darter. The tourist board speaks of peat bog pools and beds of rare plants visible from the path. Elsewhere on Pohorje it mentions the carnivorous sundew, and notes that the range has many protected areas within the Natura 2000 network. Pohorje Regional Park, of around 52 km², protects the range’s alpine bogs along with its plains and primeval forest.

Peat also has a gentler use on the range. At the Terme Zreče spa, on the Rogla side, the tourist board suggests a peat bath, which it describes as a natural source of health and well-being.

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When to go and how long

I’d pair the lakes with a walk on Pohorje on a summer or autumn day. The tower and boardwalks don’t take long, but the place makes you want to linger.

What’s nearby on the Pohorje

The lakes lie in the municipality of Lovrenc na Pohorju, which SURS puts at 2,981 people on 1 January 2026. From here Pohorje carries on towards Rogla, with its treetop walk, and towards Maribor, with the Mariborsko Pohorje ski resort.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Lovrenc Lakes on GetYourGuide.

If you are staying the night, see the best hotel deals in Lovrenc na Pohorju for your dates: the well-placed rooms go fast.