Top 10 things to do in Triglav National Park, Slovenia

This is my second post on Slovenia, read the first here: Lake Bled.

There are times when you hear a lot about a place but its such a huge region that you wonder how to really cover it. Same was the case with Triglav national park. 

Triglav National Park: The Triglav National Park extends along the Italian border and close to the Austrian border in the north-west of Slovenia, that is, in the south-eastern section of the Alps. Its territory is nearly identical with that occupied by the Eastern Julian Alps. The park covers 880 square kilometres, or 3% of the territory of Slovenia.

So if I has to see the mesmerising 3% of this Slovenian land, it would definitely take me days. Instead I opted for an adventure day trip that would cover the national park, Julian alps and Bohinj lake in one day.

So I was all set for this run ride. The route that we would cover in this 8 hour was something like this. Jake our trip guide picked me up at 8 am. And we became a group of 6 girls from US and a young couple from England and we were all set.

Jasna Lake: After around thirty minutes we reached our first stop the Jasna Lake. It consists of two interconnected artificial lakes at the confluence of the Velika Pišnica and Mala Pišnica streams.The lake is guarded by a statue of Zlatorog, the legendary mountain goat of Mt. Triglav.

Legend tells that this mythical mountain goat lived on the Triglav Mountain, guarding a secret treasure. It was shot by a hunter who was after the treasure, but the dying Zlatorog ate a flower which revived it. After that, it killed the hunter and destroyed the garden. Since then it left the area, never to return.

Prisank Mountain Window: After some fun time and super pictures we hiked to Prisank Mountain Window. After catching a little breath I saw the mountain window which large window that nature carved in the face of the Prisank mountain is the best-known in Slovenia. It is a staggering 80 metres tall and 40 metres wide.

Its tattered rock cliffs and the large mound of scree below indicate that sometime in history, the rock was punctured at a weak joint causing a landslide that, through rock-deterioration and weathering, grew to its present day size.

Ajdovska deklica: Just there is also Ajdovska deklica or Heathen Maiden is a rock formation that resembles a female human face.

The legend goes that a nymph once foretold that a newborn would kill the chamois known as Goldenhorn. Upon hearing her prophecy, the other nymphs punished her by turning her into a rock.

It is  at these places you realise the beauty of nature when you can hear birds chirp and bees hum and you stand and look around and then take a deep breath to soak in all that you see.

Jaka on the way walking with me shared that the trip had two highlights one going to the source or mouth of the Soca river where we can even dive and second is the emerald river rafting and I couldn’t wait any longer.

Soca River Source: It was noon and stopped to a toy town for a quick lunch before heading to the next destination the source or beginning of Soca river.

Both the emerald stone and the Soča river are characterised by their colour, which is a symbol of revival and new life.

The precious stone and the river share the harmony of transparent green light, colourful peacefulness and refreshment. What else could the journey along the Soča river be but a search for beauty condensed in an emerald, what else but the quenching of the soul yielded to man by virgin water, an eternal feature of the Alps?

It was going to be amazing we did some trekking up the mountain and then the path got narrower to fit only a foot holding a rope and the other side was the valley and the river.

After carefully treading each step we reached the source and it was so worth it. The thrill on walking on the edge of a mountain cannot be matched. In my head I knew I had made the right decision to do this trip.

The soca river gorge is so beautiful that it made me forget the Vintgar Gorge. Soča river has carved 750 meters long gorge. The gorge is completely narrow at some points and its depth depends a lot on the water level: in the dry period it is up to 15 m deep, but at floodings Soča can fill it up completely. It is a nice and short walk along one of Slovenia’s natural pearls. The color of Soča is truly incredible.

Kozjak Waterfall: The walk to the Kozjak Waterfall is something I really cannot describe in words. you look up on both side these are tall mountains and on a narrow path between there there was crystal clear water flowing.

There were beautiful wooden brides and as I walked I could see the fishes in the water.

Just 100 meters away was the waterfall, not huge but the most beautiful.

This was one place I did not want to leave. I just wanted to sit there leaving my existence in the materialistic world and be a no one who fell in love with the waterfall.

River Rafting: The second highlight was the emerald river rafting, we changed into the rafting suits and helmets and were ready to take on the thrill. The rafting was a level 3 one and at one point the instructor pushed us in the water and all of us were floating swimming back. That was some real excitement.

Most na Soci: we were back from rafting we went to Most na Soci. It is located on a rocky crest above the confluence of Soča and Idrijca rivers. Jake announced that anyone who was keen could jump from the bridge into the river and after laughing he said he was serious. Well its true people do jump from the bridge in his trip just that our group wasn’t so adventurous.

Bohinj Lake: The last stop was the Bohinj Lake patient, still waiting for me to look at it. Lake Bohinj is 4.2 km (2.6 mi) long and 1 km (0.62 mi) at its maximum width.

It is a glacial lake dammed by a moraine.

It was evening and I was content with the day that gifted me the best natural trail I had done so far. Jake loaded the car onto a train and we celebrated the evening over beer.

Trek time and distance: 10 kms and 9 hours

Difficulty level: Medium