Epic E Bike ride back from a far away medieval tower across the entire Karst Green rock wilderness of the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka and a final forest climb back to the Lodge!

HIGHLIGHTS..

• Start at the source of the Pivka river..
• Fantastic track from the village of Zagorje to the stunning Medieval Kalc tower..
• Bike back within reach of so many of the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka, big, little and small.. 

the Pivka river.. there is a stunning stone track to Kalc tower we go along at the back of this photo..

• Several Karst villages on the way with restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and even a dairy, so lots of refreshments options along the way..
• Do a circle stone track to see 2 of the largest lake areas AND find the very secret "Dove cave"..
• Fantastic rocky Karst scenery with low Dinaric Alps on the skyline
• Visit the second largest of the 17 Disappearing Lakes, Petelinje..
• Drop in at the Micro Museum of the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka..

magical Petelinje Disappearing lake in the winter.. can you see the road has disappeared under the water too!

• Hit the forest for the last bit of the ride home climbing firstly with a fab downhill afterwards..
• See how the Green Karst scenery switches from the rocky Pine covered Disappearing lakes to the Greener forests and open fields under Mt Nanos by the Lodge! 

DURATION..

this is a DROP OFF route.. so we drop you & the bikes off and you E Bike all the way back to the Lodge..

Biking time about 4 to 5 hours, depending on lakes and loops chosen..

15 mins by car from the Lodge, but another world away on an E bike..

A lot of this route is relatively flat for Slovenia, but it is a long ride with a lot to look at along very quiet roads and forest tracks..

Be prepared to jump on and off the bike to go find a cave, walk down into a Disappearing lake or just explore a little..

Too many options for refreshments along the way! We can help you decide the best plave for you, but be prepared to make a day of it..

find Doves Cave.. or is this an entrance to another world?!

DESCRIPTION..

Not many people will arrive in Green Slovenia expecting to E Bike around a magical set of Disappearing lakes, finding caves, sinkholes and generally being in such an unexpected rocky green paradise ALL DAY!

Let's face it, pretty much noboby will even arrive in Green SLovenia having heard of the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka..

But just imagine for a moment if you were lucky enough to have a huge secret nature park in your own country with 17 connected lakes that mysteriously appear in the autumn and disappear in the summer.. well, you could explore all around here in one day on an E bike?

hunt for the magical Karst rocks stacks that become taps for the newly forming disappearing lakes..

So this ride could be one of the most unexpected Green Adventures of your holiday!

It is too far to do this ride as a loop, so we will drop you off in the village of Zagorje, where the Pivka river springs into life and is the life source for the 17 Disappearing lakes that stretch from here to Pivka and towards the Lodge and Postojna.

Indeed the Pivka river ends up flowing through the Postojna cave..

Find the source of the Pivka river and then follow it allong a pretty path that leads up to one of the ost beautiful Medieval towers in Green Slovenia, Kalc.

a disappearing lake is NOT just a simple field.. you get to stand in a sinkhole!

From here you can start enjoying the Dinaric Alpine views that will accompany you all day.. with the start of these smaller Alps, Mt Nanos, 1,313m appearing at the end of back garden..

The route will then twist and turn on quiet local roads and rocky paths bouncing between several of these disappearing lakes..

Please Note.. You will probubbly be here in the summer, so these changing lakes will be in their "disappeared" stage, (not always), which means they will be empty.. This does NOT mean there is nothing to look at, no water yes, but quite the contrary.. in summer disappearing lakes are at their most interesting..

They are all different, but all need to fill with huge amounts of water quickly, so there are little caves, sinkholes and other springs to find..

fantastic stone track approach to Kalc tower..

Some lakes have a clear oval shape, some do not.. some have piles of rocks in the centre where the water seeps in and other have caves at the side.

ALL will have an oasis of wild flowers, butterflies and lish green meadow in the summer for you to enjoy.. so do not underestimate how amazing it can feel to be the only person standing in the middle of a disappearing lake, knowing that in winter you would be under metres of water!

There is no point now confusing you with names of the lakes as some are a bit tricky, but Kommot is a really great ap to use to see exactly where the lakes are.

We will send you past two of the larger lakes, one with a cave in the distance to see and not far from here you will park the bike and do a small trek over a cow field to find the incredibly secret Doves Cave!

there re 4 disappearing lakes and a secret cave not so far from this bridge that crosses the Pivka river, currently disappeared..

There are no shortage of picnic places along this route, so if you do have the time, plan to spend the whole day on this adventure and really immerse yourself into the green paradise here.

Perhaps the most beautiful lake shape of the 17 is the second largest Petelinje, where it is clear to see the area the lake fills and quite a spiritual circle to arrive in, like a massive auditorium, sourrounded by trees.

So this lake appears on our route and then if you have time and interest the Micro Museum of the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka is just around the corner for a visit and some really clear, fab instruction about how these lakes work!

Not far from Petelinje is a local dairy, with fresh yougurt and cheese for sale.. the perfect addition to any picnic!

amazing forest bike back home to the Lodge..

We then head towards a thick forested set of hills that seperate the Disappearing Lakes from the Lodge and Nanos for a fun E Bike up and then some down hilling on superb forest tracks, with the possibility of yet another restaurant.. this time the best Pizzeria in the area, at Studenec village on the final approach to the Lodge.

The starting point of Zagorje village seems a long way back just in this narrative, so imagine how this adventure will feel, wow, what a day and you can do this all on your own with the help of a simple ap and the amzing Rockvelo E Bikes!

THINK ABOUT..

As the route is so long, we recommend you follow our plan, but you can also  absolutely tweak the trip to choose which of the 17 Disappearing Lakes you want to find.

same spot, summer approach to the Green Ampitheatre that is Petelinje lake..

Like we said, there are some great local restaurants all along the way, so we can help you to plan where to eat, or advise where to buya picnic.

If you want to read up a little more about the wonder of European nature that is Green Slovenia's Disappearing Lakes then click on some of these links and learn more about the 17 Disappearing Lakes of Pivka, the biggest Disappearing Lake in Europe at Cerknica, the Planina Disappearing Lake and we even have a whole section on Disappearing Lakes too!

winter appraoch to Petelinje lake.. often the water comes up past where this photo is taken..

PLEASE NOTE: EVERYONE is different, so EVERY Lodge E Bike route can be as long or as short as you like.. we can help you choose the best route for your time available, interests and group dynamics.

Maybe you have just half a day, maybe you want to eat along the way, maybe you have never heard of a Disappearing lake.. it doesn't matter.. ALL you need to know to start with is you can have a REALLY fantastic experience on an E Bike along any one of our Lodge routes and this is exactly why we got the E Bikes in the first place!