Kočevski Rog

Southeastern Slovenia


One of Slovenia's most pristine areas, Kočevski Rog's virgin forests have been a protected nature area for more than a century. As many as 250 brown bears are believed to live here, as well as lynx and fox. Ten hiking trails, mostly using old forestry roads, wind their way through dense fir and beech trees, leading to small caves and sinkholes, hill peaks (the highest, Veliki Rog, is 1099m), the ruins of the 13th-century Rožek Castle, and many WWII sites.

During WWII, Partisans under Marshal Tito's command used this forest as headquarters; the nerve centre was Base 20, where 26 barracks homed the Partisan leadership in 1943 and 1944.

Base 20 is also the trailhead for one of Kočevski Rog's shorter hiking trails. The circular Resistance Trail takes you past various memorial cemeteries and the Jelendol Partisan Hospital which treated the injured from 1943.

For more information on all of the hiking trails, ask the Dolenjske Toplice TIC for the Kočevski Rog Excursion Map which marks all of the trails and historic and natural sites in the forest.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Southeastern Slovenia attractions

1. Base 20

2.03 MILES

During WWII's early days, the Partisans, under Marshal Tito's command, headquartered in Kočevski Rog's dense forests. Amid limestone caves they operated…

2. Žužemberk Castle

7.66 MILES

The mighty 13th-century Žužemberk Castle perches photogenically on a terrace overlooking the Krka River. It was refortified in the 16th century, only to…

3. Cathedral of St Nicholas

9.6 MILES

Perched above the Old Town, this Gothic cathedral is Novo Mesto’s most important historical monument. It has a 15th-century vaulted (and very floral)…

4. Dolenjska Museum

9.62 MILES

The Dolenjska Museum's impressive collection is spread over a campus of buildings. The oldest, which once belonged to the Knights of the Teutonic Order,…

5. Jakac House

9.69 MILES

The Dolenjska Museum administers Jakac House, which exhibits some of its 830-odd works by prolific painter and local boy Božidar Jakac (1899–1989). The…

6. Glavni Trg

9.74 MILES

The Old Town's main square, home to the neo-Renaissance town hall, was busy undergoing a restoration in 2018; expect it to be fully brushed up when you…

7. Town Hall

9.74 MILES

On the Old Town's main square, the neo-Renaissance town hall, out of step with the square’s other arcaded buildings, ostentatiously calls attention to…

8. Franciscan Church of St Leonard

9.77 MILES

Southeast of Glavni trg is the yellow Franciscan Church of St Leonard, originally built by monks fleeing the Turks in Bosnia in 1472, and the attached…