Pohorje, the green range of eastern Slovenia

A different kind of range

The tourist board describes Pohorje as the country’s only silicate mountain chain. It’s covered in extensive forest, including the primeval Šumik woodland, along with clearings, pastures, clean drinkable water, waterfalls and peat bogs with lakes. It’s also home to Europe’s largest butterfly. Part of it is protected as Pohorje Regional Park, around 52 km² of plains, primeval forest and alpine bogs.

What to see on Pohorje

On the Maribor side, the Pohorska vzpenjača cable car climbs from a station about 5 km from the centre up to 1,042 m. That’s where Mariborsko Pohorje begins, the city’s big ski resort, with a bike park in summer. Further west, high on the range, lie the Lovrenc lakes, dark pools in a peat bog with a wooden tower to see them from above.

To the south-west is Rogla, above Zreče, with its walkway of around 1,000 m through the treetops and a 37 m tower. The tourist board also mentions the Oplotnica gorge, the 1,360 m Zlodejevo summer sledge run, and plants such as the Žiče alyssum and the carnivorous sundew. Families can follow themed forest trails such as the Dwarf’s Path, the Little Dragon’s Path and the Heart’s Path, and Pohorje Village on Rogla has small themed houses with play areas. On the Koroška side, Kope offers pistes in winter and hiking and biking in summer. The Rogla-Pohorje destination holds the gold Slovenia Green label and appears on the list of the world’s top hundred sustainable destinations, according to the tourist board. For heritage, it points to manors at Oplotnica and Trebnik and a castle on Konjiška gora.

Skiing and biking

In winter the range has several resorts. Mariborsko Pohorje and Areh add up to some 35 km of pistes according to the operator, with night skiing right down to the valley, and Rogla has slopes and cross-country trails. In summer the same slopes fill with mountain bikers. Rogla has a bike park with six woodland runs, and Maribor’s has hosted a world-class downhill track since 1999.

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The Pohorje omelette and other traditions

The local sweet is the Pohorje omelette, filled with cranberries and whipped cream and laced with peppermint liqueur, a recipe said to date from 1950. Around Rogla, crafts such as basket weaving, wooden clogs and objects in Pohorje stone live on, and the tourist board suggests a night in a farm hayloft.

One day or two on Pohorje

I’d give Pohorje two days, one from Maribor and one from Rogla or Zreče. If you only have a morning, the cable car is enough to see why the city keeps looking up at its mountains. If you drive down by the Areh road, the Skalca waterfall and the 10th-century crypt at Hoče-Slivnica round off the day.

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

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