Šunik stream - Details
Description
Many people know the Lepenjica, but will not know that in walking distance form this little paradise there is a path along the Šunik stream that you can follow for quite some time. There are lots of opportunities to get to the riverbed at many beautiful spots. This path is easy to walk in the beginning, later on it gets a little vague. Just keep in mind that you can stay close to the riverbed most of the time. It is waymarked with black and red stripes and it actually leads to the alpine meadow Zagreben if you would continue walking the trail.
REMEMBER: There are water sources along this stream used by locals in the Lepena Valley for their drinking water. I heard from locals that some tourists use the pools for swimming, don’t do that, it is not allowed and you would be spoiling their pure source of water.
The parking for this walk is the same as for the Lepenjica.
How to get there
On the road from Bovec to Kranjska Gora turn right to the crossroad to Lepena a few hundred meters after kilometer post 13.0. After 3,4 kilometers on the crossroad there is a parking lot at the right with an information board, park there.
During the walk
Walk in the same direction as you drove, the path starts at the other end of the parking. Walking along the Lepenjica you first see the confluence with the Šunik on the other side of the river. After some 350 meters from the parking you can see the first footbridge over the Lepenjica, cross that bridge.
At the other end of the bridge, turn left. After another 100 meters there is another footbridge that crosses the Šunik. Directly after that bridge, turn left to Zagreben. This is the path along the Šunik stream that you will follow.
It is impossible to describe the whole trail because it is just a footpath through the woods along the riverbed. Keep following the black and red striped waymarks at points where the path may not be easy to see, they are always there on rocks or trees.
If you can use the gps track you will have a good reference. The track also includes all the side paths that we walked to get to the river. Most of the side paths will be obvious to see when you walk and you can choose your own at any time.
One of the side paths at the beginning leads to a water source, respect the sign NOT to use that path, see above in the Description section.
The waypoints download includes four waypoints along the way. Viewpoint 2 is at the highest waterfall along the stream, viewpoint 3 is a must-see with an interesting part of the riverbed with a small footbridge crossing the river.
The track ends at a point after which the path moves far away from the river and starts to climb uphill to Planina Zagreben, you will notice that. The last photo on this page shows where we decided to let this walk end.
The time given below is for just walking the trail, but with sightseeing along the way you can easily spend 3 hours during this walk.
Trip information
Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Length: 3,4 kilometers
Height difference: 305 meters
Parking coordinates: 46.312735,13.658073
Send coordinates to maps app
Downloads
Waypoint of the parking and points along the way (Google KML): Download
Waypoint of the parking and points along the way (GPX): Download
Track of the walk (Google KML): Download
Track of the walk (GPX): Download