A clear blue river caught between dark narrow walls.

Things are looking up Covid-wise here in Slovenia and we’ve been let out of regional lockdown on Monday, so my boyfriend and I went on a little road trip to Predoselj (or sometimes Predaselj) gorge. There are actually two Predoselj gorges, the small and the large one, and they form the narrowest part of the Kamniška Bistrica river. The river runs fast and clear there between high, dark grey limestone walls and has a gorgeous blue colour well worth seeing in person.

You can only see the narrowest part of the gorge from the bridge and it will give you a dizzy head rush for sure, because the large Predoselj groge is 30 metres deep and the smaller one is about 15 metres. Although you can go canyoning in the gorge during the warmer season if you’re an adrenalin chaser, most people just choose to walk the forest paths or hiking trails in the area, all in the shadow of the great Kamnik-Savinja Alps mountain range.

Impressions from PredOselj gorge

The gorge itself is easily accessible, as it is located a short and easy 10 minute walk away from the lodging hut in Kamniška Bistrica, which has a large parking lot and is right next to the river spring. There are also other, smaller parking lots along the road to the hut and any of them are a good starting point for the Predoselj gorge, which can be found marked on Google maps here. It is a great nature day trip destination from Ljubljana, about a 45 minute drive, and can be reached by taking the local bus to the bus station next to the hut in Kamniška Bistrica. You could also pair visiting the Predoselj gorge with a visit to the historical town of Kamnik or Velika planina hill, which is one of the most popular Slovenian tourist destinations. You can take a cable car up there if you don’t want to hike.

The forest surrounding Predoselj gorge is a beauty and the whole area is full of easy forest paths and serious, signposted hiking trails, so you can pick and choose how much of a challenge you want when you get there. We chose a nice, easy circular path past some of the nearby sights, although we skipped the walk up to Ogrlice waterfall, because there were lots of people on that path.

It felt amazing to be able to go out and about without worrying about regional limits and we even managed to pick the right forest paths – the ones without people. I was surprised to see lots of tiny spruce trees in the area, so we’re assuming they were planted after a natural ice rain disaster a few years ago. They’re growing literally everywhere, on tiny rock islands in the river, next to other, larger trees and even diagonally down the slopes and it’s adorable. Oh, and we also met a forest troll, as you can see below. 🙂 Isn’t she cute?

EDIT 2023: SUMMER Impressions from Predoselj GORGE

In July 2023 we went on another trip to the Predoselj gorge, so here are some summer impressions. We took some different paths than before and found two small waterfalls, another bridge and the most adorable fat pony. The whole forest was once again like something straight out of a fairytale and the river runs very cold (6 – 10°C) this close to its source, so it is a nice place to cool off and enjoy the breeze.