Polhograjska Grmada: route from Topol (898 m)
© Jaka Ivančič
© Jaka Ivančič
© Jaka Ivančič
© Jaka Ivančič
A colourful pre-Alpine landscape on the edge of Ljubljana
The route to Polhograjska Grmada from Topol is one of the gentler ascents, since the starting point is already quite high up. The route partly follows a wide macadam road, and partly runs along the edge of an easy pleasant ridge, with numerous ups and downs. Only the last section is slightly steeper, but the path is well maintained.
Polhograjska Grmada is one of the most beautiful and popular hiking destinations in the Polhov Gradec Dolomites, a rugged pre-Alpine landscape practically on the edge of the capital. The climb to the summit already shows some characteristics of high mountain areas – steep rocky slopes, exposed ridges and so on. The evergreen vegetation along the route is also a surprise, although the area is part of a protected nature park that is famous for its remarkable flora, particularly in late spring and summer, when it is filled with colourful flowers. The peak of Grmada offers a wonderful view over the Alps, the Krim range, the hills of the Notranjska region and the wetland plain of the Ljubljansko Barje. A circular summit indicator helps visitors interpret the view. One further curiosity: Rudolf Badjura, the legendary author of mountain guides, writes that the French used to refer to Polhograjska Grmada as “Louis Quatorze”, since the unusual shape of its jagged ridge, with its vertically sheared head, recalled the jaw and nose of King Louis XIV of France.
If you park your car in Topol, you will start off walking mainly on the asphalt road until you reach a small quarry (parking is also possible here). At this point, you turn onto a wide macadam road that for the most part slopes gently upwards. After a while, the path narrows significantly and begins to climb moderately steeply while continuing to “cut” the slope. It then widens again and levels out. Continue until you reach a wooden signpost. Follow the “Grmada” directly onto a slightly steeper path that then levels out slightly while still climbing and leading up to the ridge (where there is a bench) via a series of turns.
Follow the narrow forest path, which rises and falls gently with only a few brief steeper ascents and descents, along the edge of the ridge until you come to a signpost pointing more steeply up the hill to a plateau with benches and a fine view of nearby Tošč, Svetik Jakob with its little church, the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, the Krim range and the hills extending in the direction of the Notranjska region. Looking down you can see the Gonte farm, which is open to visitors at weekends. (If you descend to this farm, you can walk back to Topol along a cart track that follows the ridge below the summit – follow the signpost indicating “Katarina”. This leads back to the fork mentioned earlier, where you turn left and return to the starting point by the same route as the ascent.)
From the plateau, it is only a brief, rocky trek to Grmada.
Descent
Same route as the ascent
Access to the starting point
By car (parking is possible in Topol, along the asphalt road that leads into the forest just at the point where the village comes into sight, or continue a little way along the road to the quarry, where there is parking space for a few cars)
