On this page I would like to give an overview information of Triglav subgroup (Julian Alps), in order not to be repeated on all distinct summit pages. The map below links you to distinct summit pages on SummitPost! Regarding pictures and routes, this page is the place only for overall information.

Overview

Triglav subgroup from NE, from Karavanke range.

Triglav Subgroup stands on the very NE part of Julian Alps, where these lower significantly to forehills (beyond Sava Bohinjka river) and the Gorenjska plane. Borders of the group are: Luknja pass - Vrata valley - Sava Dolinka valley - Sava Bohinjka valley - The Upper Bohinj valley - Voje valley - Miseljska dolina (valley) - Hribarice plateau - Prehodavci Pass - Zadnjica valley - Luknja pass.

All the highest peaks of this group are concentrated on its western part. In the central and southern part there's a broad high plateau, named Pokljuka, covered almost completely with beautiful forests and nice alpine meadows. On the NE part, beyond Radovna valley, there is a mountain range, or high plateau, named Mezaklja, which still belongs to Julian Alps, but its highest peak reaches only the altitude of 1593m.

Triglav Subgroup interactive map: Hover over summit marks to see mountain names, click on them to get SummitPost pages!

Towards the summit

A part of Triglav North Face

In the highest part of the group, some 1800m above Vrata valley and above one of the most monumental rock walls of the whole Alps the summit of Triglav, 2864m, stands. The summit massif has two side peaks, Mali Triglav, 2725m, and Rjavec, 2568m.

SW of Triglav, alone stands Smarjetna glava, 2358m, and beyond Dolic pass Kanjavec massif, 2568m. The western shoulder of Kanjavec is Vrsac, 2194m, itself an unimportant peak, but with a beautiful north wall in which there are many hard climbing routes. Towards south, Kanjavec lowers on Hribarice high plateau, 2350m, where Thiglav subgroup is attached to Bohinj subgroup. Beyond Zadnjica valley there's also the massif of Zadnjiski Ozebnik, 2084m, which officially also belongs to the Triglav group. SE of Hribarice a nice summit stands - Miseljski konec, 2464m, which starts a long ridge streching towards east. This is Miselj ridge, consisting of a few minor summits and finishing on the eastern end with Miselj vrh, 2350m and the throne of Kostrunovec, 2102m. SE of Triglav there's one more ridge, streching towards the long crest above Pokljuka plateau - its highest summit in it is Vernar, 2225m.

East of Triglav a high ridge goes towards Rjavina. The first two summits, Kredarica, 2541m and Rz, 2538m, would be less important, if on the first one there would not stand the highest hut in Julian Alps. So, from Triglav three ridges go towards NE. From the summit of Triglav first only the edge of the huge N wall goes. Where it lowers, there's a place, named Prag. Beyond it the first mountain ridge begins with Begunjski vrh, 2461m, continuing towards NE to the summit of Cmir, 2393m. With Cmir this ridge comes to an end, because from Vrata valley up to the centre of Triglav massif a side valley goes, named Za Cmirom (=Behind Cmir).

Rjavina

The second ridge goes parallelly to the begunjski vrh - Cmir ridge. It starts with Visoka Vrbanova spica, 2408m, and lowers down to Spodnja Vrbanova spica, 2299m, which is especially beautiful from Kot valley. But this ridge doesn't end like the first one. It lowers significantly, but continues over Pozgana Mlinarica, 1873m, which is still attractive and rocky over many lower summits, covered with woods, until it finishes near Mojstrana.

The most important is the third, Rjavina ridge. After Rz, there's a saddle Dovska vratca, 2254m, beyont which the strong and nice Rjavina, 2532m, begins. Further towards NE of its highest summit in the strong ridge there are some more important summits: Luknja pec, 2245m, Dimniki, 2101m, Macesnovec, 1926m, after which the ridge lowers and finally finishes at Radovna village.

The sourthern part

And finally the last of high Triglav group crests, which on the SE rises above Pokljuka plateau. Beyond Bohinjska vratca (notch), 1979m, the first high mountain is the fat Tosc, 2275m. From this one the mountain chain goes allways towards NE. Its N and NW walls are high, vertical rocks, very attractive for hard climbs, while its S slopes are more or less grassy, intermitted with some rocks. Next to Tosc there stands a beautiful pyramid of Veliki Draski vrh, 2243m, Then the sharp Mali Draski vrh, 2132m, Debeli vrh, 1962m, Lipanski vrh, 1965m and finally Debela pec, 2014m. After this last important summit the crest lowers and after some minor summits it ends in Radovna valley. And the last two mountains to name. From this long crest two shorter side ridges go towards south. The first one, the ridge of Ablanca, 2004m, is south of Veliki Draski vrh and the second one, the Visevnik, 2050m, is south of Mali Draski vrh.

Mountaineering Highlights

Over the N face in winter

Northern approaches

The most valuable mountaineering goal of the group is of course the summit of Triglav. The ascent from north is a true feast for every true mountaineer. If doing it in one day, the best option is by its NW ridge (Plamenice) and down by one of the other two trails. Doing this, means some 1900m of altitude up and the same down. For good climbers Triglav north wall is of highest value. In almost 5000m wide and 1500m high wall there are numerous routes of all difficulties.

Any other of big summits can be a valuable mountaineering goal. Nice marked trails/ferratas are on Rjavina, over Vrbanove spice ridge, over Cmir ridge, on Kanjavec and on Debela pec. Very rewarding are tours, where there is no trails, nor marks: Miselj ridge, summits in the ridge above Pokljuka and many more distinct summits. See more about these possibilities on distinct mountain pages.

For hard climbs also other summits offer nice rock walls. here's first of all the wall from Tosc, over Veliki to Mali Draski vrh. Some possibilities are also in Rjavina north wall, and even in its SE walls (Teme). Also Debela pec is very popular. From Trenta side a special pearl for hard climbs (long routes!) is Vrsac north and north-west wall.

Finally in Triglav massif there are some best possibilities for tour skiing in Julian Alps. Triglav itself can not be done with skis (only few extremely good skiers did it). But the whole area south of it offers nice terrains. Skiing down from Kredarica in Krma, from Kanjavec on Velo polje and over Bohinjska vratca in Krma, behind Cmir, and from almost any summit above Pokljuka plateau is highly enjoyable.

Other Places To See

Bled with its lake, island with a church and a castle on a high rock is one of the main tourist attractions of Slovenia (link).

Vintgar gorge north of Bled is great in spring. Radovna river made its way through 200 meters high rocks of neighbouring hills.

Radovna valley is nice for doing a bike tour, or just hiking.

Pericnik waterfall in Vrata valley is easily reachable and is one of the most attractive ones in Julian Alps. If you have some time (15 more minutes) and energy, it's worth ascending by the marked path on top of it and a few minutes further to the higher (but smaller) waterfall.

Pokljuka forests are attractive for hiking and biking in any season. In winter you can enjoy there kilometers of nice tracks for cross country skiing. On Rudno polje every year a world cup race in cross-country skiing or biathlon is held. In Sport hotel you can also find accomodation.

Otherwise, Valleys, leading into the group are in detail described on the Triglav page.

Getting There

For the broader orientation (highways, railways, airports, ...) see the Eastern Alps GROUP page, and, because this is only a subgroup page, the Julian Alps page.

Triglav subgroup - access roads and main summits are clearly seen.

On the map above you can see that you can drive by car into all three valleys from the north: Vrata, Kot and Krma. Roads end on altitudes of about 1000m. In recent years there are strong voices that the road into Vrata valley should be closed for public traffic. But so far this hasn't been realised yet. In Vrata in summer there's also the bus connection. For mountaineering purposes also the Pokljuka plateau can be reached by good roads. They are all toll-free and the main road on Rudno polje is cleared also through the whole winter (unless desperately too much snow falls). From Bohinj valley, you can, besides driving on Pokljuka, drive a few kilometers also into Voje valley. And finally, from Trenta valley you can also drive by a narrow road into Zadnjica valley (for west approaches). Also Mezaklja side ridge can be accessed by car.

Red Tape

The highest mountains are in the Triglav national park. So, please do everything to preserve nature!

Here are some links to web pages where information is also in English:

The official page of Triglav National Parc.

A kind of bi-lingual page with panoramic pictures of the area.

A page for waterfall enthusiasts.

When To Climb

Months with the most stable weather are usually from July to October. For tour skiing the best months are from March to May.

For weather see here.

Even better site is wunderground - here's the direct link to Kredarica station, 2515m (below Triglav summit).

Camping & Huts

Camping in nature is forbidden. High on the mountain nobody will tease you if you just make it over the night (and of course not close to a mountain hut). In any case you should leave the nature unchanged. Otherwise camps are in Sava valley, in Trenta, in Bled and in Bohinj valley. For other touristic possibilities see the main Julian Alps page!

Mountain huts of Slovenian Mountaineering Association:

(1) Blejska koca na Lipanci, 1630m, (050) 633769, (050) 611903. Access route(s): From the parking place on Pokljuka in 45min - marked path.

(2) Kovinarska koca v Krmi, 870m, (050) 631989, accessible by car.

(3) Vodnikov dom na Velem polju, 1817m, +386(0)51 607 211.

(4) Zasavska koca on Prehodavci Pass, 2071m, Tel.: +386(0)50 614781 +386(0)41 844776.

(5) Trzaska Koca na Dolicu, 2151m, (050) 614780.

Access route(s):

From the Valley of 7 Triglav Lakes. This route was described by Velebit here. The relevant section is: Section 2) 7 Triglav Lakes hut - Koca na Dolicu hut: 3.30h. The variant from Prehodavci to Dolic over the N face of Kanjavec is described here.

From Trenta valley / Zadnjica valley. This route was described by Velebit here. The relevant section is: a.) Zadnjica - Koca na Dolicu hut - Triglav. 5h.

From Vrata over Luknja pass. From Aljazev dom, 1015m, (hut) we follow the marked path alon Triglav's N face towards SW and ascend Luknja pass, 1758m. Now we must descend more than 250m down towards Zadnjica valley, until we reach the path, described above. 6h.

From Vodnikov dom, 1817m. From the hut we descend to Velo Polje meadow, 1700m, and go towards W all the way by the beautiful Velska dolina (valley). Approaching the upper end, we don't continue on the same direction to Hribarice Pass, but turn instead right (towards N) and ascend Dolic Pass and the hut beyond it. 2h.

(6) Dom Planika, 2401m, (04)5744069, (050) 614773,
(7) Triglavski dom na Kredarici, 2515m, (04) 2023181,
(8) Stanicev dom, 2332m, (050) 614772,
(9) Aljazev dom v Vratih, 1015m, (04) 5891030, (031) 384011, (031) 384013,
(10) Dom v Vojah, 690m, (04) 57 23 213, (051) 308 959,
(11) Planinska koca na Uskovnici, 1154m, (031) 341 814.

Existing SummitPost Pages

2864m - Triglav,

Not to disregard other pages, but Triglav page is the best example of high quality SummitPost page! It is almost every day updated (weather conditions), there you will find any information about the mountain and its surroundings.

Northern neighbours of Triglav

Kredarica from Triglav

2568m - Kanjavec,
2538m - Rz,
2532m - Rjavina,
2461m - Begunjski vrh,
2408m - Vrbanove spice,
2393m - Cmir,
2350m - Miselj vrh,
2275m - Tosc,
2243m - Veliki Draski vrh,
2225m - Vernar,
2194m - Vrsac.
2132m - Mali Draski vrh.
2084m - Zadnjiski Ozebnik.
2050m - Visevnik,
2015m - Debela pec.

The More Remoted History of This Page

January 30th, 2005 - Links to the new page inserted: Vrbanove spice.

December 1st, 2004 - Links to the new page inserted: Begunjski vrh.

November 27th, 2004 - Links to the new page inserted: Mali Draski vrh.

November 23rd, 2004 - Links to the new page inserted: Tosc.

November 17th, 2004 - Links to two new pages inserted: 2393m - Cmir and 2350m - Miselj vrh.

November 9th, 2004 - Links to the new page inserted: Vrsac.

November 7th, 2004 - Initial set up of the page.

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