Slovenia is a small European country that is not very popular, and sometimes even confused with Slovakia. However downhill enthusiasts should know the “Maribor”, thanks to the memorable DH trail from the World Cup. Most often it is the only bike place that anyone know in this country. But is it the only one worth to visit? Are there any other places where you can ride some nice trails besides the Pohorje Bike Park?
If it’s about me, I did not have the opportunity to visit Slovenia before, but when I was going there with my wife this year, we thought that we would like to get to know not only main tourist atractions of this country, but also want to see the possibilities of biking over there. After very short research we find out that there are also following bike parks: Kranjska Gora, Cerkno, Kope, Krvavec, Vogel, and Rogla. Of course we didn’t have time to see all of them, but our bikes were also useful during normal sightseeing. Below you will find some of our impressions from traveling around Slovenia with biking in our minds.
Maribor – Bike Park Pohorje
Mostly known as the place with Downhill World Cup trail, and in 2019 and 2020 there will be again UCI World Cup Downhill race held up there again. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to know the famous DH trail entirely because of the competitions being played on it, but in the bike park there is also a blue Flow trail, and a completely new, freeride Red Line. The blue trail and obstacles on it were unfortunately in poor condition, while the newly built Red Line is incredible. It is so steep, that despite the fact that I rather feel strong on jumps I was scared to make every jump clean on that trail. The trails are long, the gondola rides very fast, but 29 EUR per day of riding there is a lot for only 3 variants of trails. And yes, it is definitely a place worth visiting, but if You go from far away I guess it’s better to plan visit also in other places in the area. It is also worth mentioning that currently all the trails are being developed and rebuilt and it is possible that a lot will change for the new season. I was in mid-September 2018 and from the middle of the mountain Red Line was still under construction, but I saw a movie from the end of September where the beginning of the blue route was completely rebuilt.
Bike Park Kope
A place that was created last year and is just developing, but my attention was caught by a new trail called “Pro Line” with a nice looking jump line. Other than that we can also choose a Flow trail, and there is one more natural path called “Borovicka”. I had the opportunity to ride with the builders of this place and I can say that they are real enthusiasts of this sport. Trails on Kope are not as hard as in Maribor, but thanks to their smoothness and variety of obstacles they give a lot of fun! For the next season, of course, further development of the bike park is planned, so there will be new downhill trail and the Pro line will be even longer than now. Kope is located about 30 km from Maribor and in my opinion it is really worth getting there. We go up by the chairlift, and the full-day pass is 15 EUR and at this price we also get included dinner served in the form of a buffet, where you eat as much as you like!
When I was riding in the Bike Park of Kope, my wife rented an e-bike there. Within 3 hours she made almost 40 km in the surrounding mountain range. And as she admitted it was the perfect solution for a nice and quick tour around Kope area. The next day, we also used the e-bikes together, and thanks to them we got to know the area around the Drava river, and also we saw how well developed in Slovenia is the network of bicycle routes and paths. In short, we would like to have such infrastructure in Poland! Thanks to that during our further travel around Slovenia, we also used our bikes to explore, for example, the area around Lake Bohinj.
Bike Park Cerkno
This place offers 5 trails serviced by the lift, and additional 2 enduro variants. Together, it gives a lot of opportunities for a nice ride, especially that we can combine them together nicely. We can ride here various variants: from fully constructed trails, on which we can ride large profiled turns and some table jumps, to more natural lines full of roots and rocks. There is a blue line with good flow that is perfect to learn, and there is also a black downhill trail that requires a good technique. The lift is very fast, so we can ride a lot even in one day. All-day ticket costs EUR 24, but if you are staying in a hotel that is cooperating with bike park, You can have a 30% discount on it.
During our stay in Cerkno I have also an opportunity to test the Slovenian endure in higher mountains. This all thanks to Primoz “Figaro” Ravnik, known primarily thanks to the film where he rides from the dam:
He is truly amazing personality, and currently he is working on organizing an interesting enduro mtb event “Trans Julius”. This is a 4-day enduro competition in 4 different locations around Slovenia and it is focused primarily on having fun on cool trails, and not only on fastest time. Figaro together with the local guide, gave me the opportunity to go with them on the trail that they are planning for next year’s competition. Our ride began at the very top of Porezen mountain (1630 m above sea level) and we covered about 11 km of distance and over 1300 m of descent, and along the way we ride on fast singles, rock gardens, and technical root sections. All this in the perfect weather and I can say that it was one of the best rides in my life! If the rest of the Trans Julius trails will look like this I would recommend it to everyone!
To sum up, we are surprised how many interesting places for bikin can offer such a small country like Slovenia. Of course, we did not manage to see everything, but even after this one stay we can say that the culture of biking there is great and the infrastructure is also at a high level. According to local bikers, the most interesting places to visit, which we did not see now are: Bike Park Krvavec, and a network of enduro mtb trails in Jamnica. I encourage everyone to visit this country and if You do, don’t go only to Maribor, but also visit other places on the cycling map of Slovenia. And if you also want to explore its tourism attractions or learn something interesting about the country, I invite you to our blog: balkanyrudej.pl
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Text & photos: Marek Chabros balkanyrudej.pl