Environmental Scout Centre Kočevski rog

Top of the Rog, 1099 metres above sea level, is the highest point of Kočevski Rog. A viewing tower stands at the top, and only by climbing it can you truly sense the scale and vastness of the Rog forests. In good weather the view reaches as far as the Julian Alps and the Kamnik Alps. The ascent from the Scout Environmental Centre is easy and takes about 40 minutes. The trail is well marked.

Ice cave near Kunec

This is an underground ice cave where ice remains throughout the entire year. The cave is 120 metres long and 45 metres deep. In spring, as melting begins, fascinating ice formations appear beneath the shafts, yet the cave never warms enough for the snow and ice to disappear completely. In the past the cave had special importance for the local population, since they collected ice from it during summer to cool food supplies.

Entrance to the Ice Cave near Kunec

Rajhenavski Rog Primeval Forest

This is known as the first area in Slovenia protected for the purpose of preserving untouched nature, established in 1892. Here, where no axe has ever been used, nature has followed its own laws for thousands of years. The forest lies on the sunny side of a high karst limestone plateau at an elevation of 850 to 920 metres. It covers 51 hectares, and its trees reach remarkable sizes and ages. Silver firs grow up to 50 metres tall, have trunks more than 1.5 metres in diameter, hold up to 50 tons of wood mass and can live for more than 500 years.

A primeval forest is a naturally preserved forest excluded from forest management, where human intervention does not take place. Its special features include a high volume of wood, massive trees, many dead and fallen trunks, and animal and plant species that cannot be found elsewhere.

In addition to Rajhenavski Rog, Kočevski Rog is home to several other forest reserves under strict protection. These include the Pečke primeval forest, 59.50 hectares, the Kopa primeval forest, 13.13 hectares, and the Prelesnik sinkhole primeval forest, 3.37 hectares.

Prelesnik Sinkhole

This sinkhole lies on the edge of the Rajhenav valley. It is named after the Kočevje forester Anton Prelesnik, who was the first to draw attention to this natural feature. It is a 40 metre deep collapse doline with steep walls all around, created by the caving in of the ceiling above an underground cavity.

Because of the cold air pocket at its bottom, the sinkhole preserves a remnant of primeval spruce forest and a diverse plant community that would normally be found in the cold climate of high mountains or far in the north. A reversed vegetation pattern has developed in the Prelesnik sinkhole, which means that vegetation belts appear in the opposite order compared to mountain slopes. The sinkhole can be viewed from the Rog hiking trail, which leads along the edge of this special forest reserve.

Steep walls of the Prelesnik sinkhole

Forest giants

The silver fir known as the Queen of Rog is one of the most impressive trees in the area. With a height of 51.5 metres it is considered the tallest silver fir in Slovenia. Its age is equally remarkable, estimated at more than 500 years.

Silver fir (Abies alba): circumference 496 cm, height 51.5 m, wood volume 38 m3, age 500 years.

Foresters may have noticed this giant only about a century ago, and because it was never cut down, it grew into a true forest giant. Kočevski Rog is home to several other trees of similar significance. At the junction of the Mlinarska trail with the former railway line stands the Črmošnjiška fir, 43 metres tall with a circumference of 580 cm, which corresponds to a diameter of 185 cm. Its wood volume is 37 m3 and its age is estimated at 240 years.

Silver fir, the Queen of Rog