Sitting at a view-enhanced elevation of 1611m, this mountain pass is about 13km southwest of Kranjska Gora, via a storied road that zigzags madly and passes numerous sites of interest as it climbs. From the pass itself, the peak-tastic views take in Mojstrovka (2332m) to the west and Prisojnik/Prisank (2547m) to the east; to the south the valley of the Soča River points the way to western Slovenia.
From Kranjska Gora, as the road reaches just over 1100m you come to the beautiful wooden Russian Chapel, erected on the site where more than 300 Russian POWs were buried in an avalanche in March 1916. From here the climb begins in earnest as the road meanders past a couple of huts and corkscrews up the next few kilometers to the pass itself.
From here, a hair-raising descent of about 10km ends just short of a monument to Dr Julius Kugy (1858–1944), a pioneer climber and writer whose books eulogize the beauty of the Julian Alps.
The road continues to the settlements of Trenta and Soča, 8km downstream. The activity hub of Bovec is 12km west of Soča. En route, the narrow Lepena Valley is well worth a detour, for accommodation, splendid vistas and a range of walks.
Photo credit: Nino Marcutti
