Activities / Cycling
A circular route: Cerkno – Novaki – Škofje – Planina pri Cerknem – Cerkno
This circular route takes us through the village Novaki with a rich past and architectural heritage of the Cerkno building type and along a pleasant path aroud the Škofje which used to be a copper ore deposit.
From the square Glavni trg in Cerkno you will go in the direction of Novaki and the Cerkno Ski Centre. The paved road, with a 4-km section of fairly flat road very popular among recreational sportspeople, will take you past the signs for the Franja Partisan Hospital to the village Dolenji Novaki. Climb up the road through the village for about 1.5 km and turn right towards Kopačnica on the sharp left turn you get to. Pass the holiday apartment and to the right, across the small bridge and up the paved road towards the forest.
Drive through a pleasantly cool forest and, after crossing the third little bridge about 1.5 km further, take the middle gravel road that leads right, past an old and mossy stone wall. On the right you will be awarded with a view of Novaki and the precipice of the Mali and the Veliki Njivč hills above the Pasice gorge where the Franja Partisan Hospital is hidden.
Continue along the pleasant rolling path on the slopes of the Škofje and soon reach a junction where the path towards the Ermanovec is the choice, so keep left and follow the markings. Enjoy the ever wider views of the vicinity – the villages Novaki, Poljane, Labinje come out first, until you get out of the forest to the meadows and treat yourself to a short break on the bench under the linden tree. From there you will be awarded with an amazing view of Cerkno and the surrounding hills and villages. Straight in front you will see the Mt. Porezen, to the left the domed Kojca, lower down the valley you will notice the Šebrelje plateau above the site Divje babe and the horizon is lined by the Alps.
After the break keep on driving, pass the holiday houses and the meadow till the paved road where you have to keep right and drive down the slope till you reach the main road Cerkno-Škofja Loka. Here you can either turn right and drive down towards Cerkno lying in the valley or turn left, climb up till Kladje and continue along the main route towards the region of Idrija (look at the description of the main route).
Points of interest along the routes
- The Franja Partisan Hospital (for details see Route 3).
- Homestead Pri Praprotniku in the village Gorenji Novaki offers a collection of old farming tools and the Novaki bow skis (Slov. novaška lok smučka).
- The viewpoint under the linden tree on the slope of the Škofje, which used to be an occasional mining site of copper ore from the 15th to the 20th century. The Škofje is also the drainage divide between the Adriatic and the Black Seas.
VISIT CERKNO
