The best walks and hikes around Oplotnica

During the hours in which it is open, the church is also worth a visit inside.

The discovery of burial mounds and other pre-Slavic burial sites proved that the area was inhabited from the Celts and Romans to the Old Slavic settlements during the Copper Age. In the Middle Ages, the Freudenberg Castle was located nearby. Not far from here, the old road led the two brothers Cyril and Methodius to Rome. The monks from the Žiče Charterhouse with their valuable property in Zreče most likely earned merit for the Church of God on Brinjeva gora, as they were devoted worshippers of Mary.

As the Lobinca tumbles down from the delightful Pohorje Hills to the Drava Valley, it creates the Šumik Falls. This is Veliki Šumik, the larger of the two main cascades – the other being Mali Šumik, further downstream. At Veliki Šumik, the Lobinca crashes down an impressive 79 feet (24 m). The path between the two waterfalls is considered to be quite a challenging hike.

Beautifully laid out with many informative boards on the houses, also in English.

Beautiful castle of konjice a must wisit

At Bajgot or Šimuk, there is an excursion point at the confluence of Lobnica and Črnava. There is a crossroads of several mountain trails. On Lobnica, a part of an 11 km long slide built in 1837 has been preserved, along which logs were harvested to sawmills in the valley. At the bridge, the path begins to the Pohorje primeval forest, to both waterfalls and on to Ruše. Up to 24 m high waterfall Veliki Šumik, where Lobnica falls over a high tonalite threshold, is 20 minutes, and up to 9 m high Mali Šumik, where Lobnica falls through a narrow stone gutter into the pool, 35 minutes. The last part of the route to Veliki Šumik is one of the most demanding routes. Next to Mali Šumik are the tonalite Ravbarska furnaces. According to folklore, there were hiding places, after which the cliff got its name. The Pohorje primeval forest covers 58 ha and is protected as a nature reserve. It is the last remnant of the Pohorje natural rainforest. Due to the inaccessible slopes along Lobnica, it has not yet been cut. Beech, spruce and fir trees grow in the rainforest, as well as many rare plants, including rusty sleet, alpine sagebrush, unusual limestone and beetle. Hikers are recommended to visit the rainforest and waterfalls. The route was restored and secured in 1991. In August 1941, the Pohorje company encamped in Šumik and from there, on 11 August, went on the attack on Ribnica na Pohorju. There were no forest roads at that time. In the wider area of Šumik, partisan units fought the Germans several times, and from the bases on Pohorje they attacked important points in the valley, e.g. the Maribor – Dravograd railway line, the Fala power plant, Lovrenc na Pohorju and other places where the Germans had their outposts. Unit XIV. on June 29, 1944, the divisions clashed with the Germans at Šumik and drove them out. Then 6 fighters of the National Liberation Army fell, among them the national hero Dušan Remih - Duško. A simple monument along the road to the nearby Gozdarski dom reminds us of this fight.

Black Lake is the largest lake in Pohorje, covering an area of just over two hectares. The well-known geographer Anton Melik assumes that the lake was formed in the feudal period, when the upper part of the shallow ravine of the Ribniščica stream was enclosed (Anton Melik: Styria with Prekmurje and the Mežica Valley, Slovenska matica, 1957). At that time, the forests on this side of Pohorje were owned by Konjic manors. Atlas Slovenije states that Črno jezero is the former Konjiški ribnik (Atlas Slovenije, Mladinska knjiga and Geodetski zavod Slovenije, 1992); this name confirms Melik's assumption. The lake is surrounded by high marshes, dwarf pine and spruce forests. The reflection of dark green in the water gives the impression that the water is black. On the northern side, the Črnava stream, once called Ribniščica, flows out of the lake.