Description
Velika Planina, meaning Big Mountain, is one of Europe's largest herdsmen's settlements, a wide alpine plateau above Kamniška Bistrica still grazed by cattle every summer. A cable car lifts riders and their bikes from the valley floor to the plateau in five minutes, opening up a short gravel and forest road network across the pastures to the Zeleni rob inn and beyond, plus a well known technical singletrack descent, Dolski Graben, for those who want to ride all the way back down. The same gravel roads also link into longer point to point rides through the wider Kamnik Savinja Alps, including a route down into Tuhinjska dolina at Terme Snovik.
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The Trails
Most riders start at the lower cable car station in Kamniška Bistrica, where bikes travel up with you for a small additional charge (the chairlift does not take bikes). From the upper station it is a short, steady climb of around fifteen minutes and 250 metres of ascent up to the summit area, or you can ride the gravel road roughly 2.5km across to the Zeleni rob inn and on through the herdsmen's settlement to the Mačkin kot car park. All of this riding is on established farm and forest roads rather than purpose built trail, so stick to the marked routes, ride within your ability and give way to the cattle that graze the plateau through summer.
For a full loop rather than an out and back on the lift, Dolski Graben is the classic way down: a long, technical singletrack descent dropping from the plateau back to the valley floor, well known among local riders but not part of the operator's own marked cycling route, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.
A return cable car ticket, with a small additional charge for taking a bike, is needed to reach the plateau. Check current prices on the operator's website before you travel. E-bike hire is also available at the bottom station.
Gravel Riding
Velika Planina is really a gravel destination as much as a mountain bike one. The marked network of forest and cart tracks across the plateau suits a hardtail or gravel bike as well as an MTB, and stronger riders use the same roads to link much longer point to point routes: one popular tour climbs from Kamnik over the Črnivec pass and Kranjski Rak, another runs from Terme Snovik in Tuhinjska dolina, both covering around 50km with well over 1000 metres of climbing on quiet gravel and forest roads through the wider Kamnik Savinja Alps.
Getting Here
From Kamnik, follow the signs for Kamniška Bistrica through Stahovica. The road forks left in Stahovica, and after around 4km more you reach the car park at Kamniška Bistrica, right by the lower cable car station (1242 Kamniška Bistrica). This car park is the best base for riders.
Alternative parking closer to the plateau exists at Rakove Ravni (open year round, 1.5 to 2 hours' walk from the top), and at Ušivec and Mačkin kot (summer only, since the access roads are not cleared in winter).
From Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport it is around 28km via the local road towards Ljubljana, turning for Kamnik at the Moste crossroads. From Maribor, take the A2 motorway to the Vransko exit and follow the Tuhinjska dolina valley towards Kamnik, around 20km.
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