Things to do
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Križna Cave
Underground lakes chain through this unelectrified cave in the Lož valley, about 20 km southeast of Cerknica, and every visit is guided with hand lamps. The short tour covers the dry galleries and a brief boat crossing of the first lake. A four-hour trip by inflatable boat through thirteen lakes takes small groups only and must be booked well ahead, especially in July and August.
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Lake Cerknica
Water fills the Cerknica polje through springs and swallow holes after the autumn rains and drains back underground through the same karst in dry months, so the lake is fullest from late autumn to spring and often a meadow by August. The shore path from Dolenje Jezero suits walking and cycling in any season. In a full year, birdwatchers come for the reed beds and the flooded fields.
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Planina Cave
Two underground rivers, the Pivka and the Rak, meet inside this water cave near Planina, about 15 km northwest of Cerknica, to form the Unica. There is no lighting and no built walkway: tours are guided, with headlamps and boots, and the longer trips follow the river on foot or by boat. Visits run mainly in the summer months, on a limited schedule.
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Rakov Škocjan
Two natural stone bridges span the Rak gorge in this small landscape park about 10 km northwest of Cerknica, the remains of a collapsed cave roof. A marked circuit of roughly two to three hours links the Big and Little Natural Bridge, the Zelške Caves and the river's disappearance underground. The paths are shaded, which makes the circuit a good summer choice, but they turn muddy after rain.
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Slivnica
A marked path climbs from Cerknica to the 1,114-metre summit of Slivnica in roughly two hours, through beech woods to a mountain hut near the top. From the ridge the whole Cerknica polje lies below, full of water or green, depending on the season. Local legend places the witches of Notranjska here, and a carnival figure of a witch still appears in town each February.
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Snežnik Castle
Furnished rooms from the nineteenth century fill this white castle in Kozarišče, at the head of the Lož valley about 20 km southeast of Cerknica, and visits run as guided tours through the interiors. The parkland and the castle pond are free to walk around. A small museum in the old granary covers the local tradition of dormouse trapping.
