the Kingfisher Trail
Imagine a secret Green spot with fairytale hideaway huts, little lakes covered in lily pads, birds and insects buzzing around busily and a big wooden tower to climb up and see it all.. then add in a 2 hour looped forest trail to follow that leads you deep into the forest along a trail lined with dozens of bird boxes high up in the trees..
Maybe you are lucky enough to have a nature reserve a bit like this at home.. and maybe you also have a fantastic hiking trail to follow there as well..
But we bet that along your path it doesn't have a secret forest spring, a medieval fortress protecting a church AND a Karst cave to explore..
Well they do here on the Kingfisher trail!
And this is what makes all these Secret Green Slovenian Nuggets that we keep finding around here so very special indeed!
The Kingfisher Trail & Nature Reserve in Cerovo is the very definition of one of the hundreds of Secret Green Places to Visit all over Slovenia that you really might like to go hang out at if you even just knew a little about them.. and could find them!
And it is rare we just rock up to a new secret place and find out all there is to know about it in one go..
It is so often the case that we need 2 or 3 visits exploring a place to meet the right people, get the right info, find the right track or even realise this might be a fantastic new Secret Green Nugget that our guests or other people might like to visit..
New visitors to Green Slovenia just do not have the time to search these amazing new places out.. It is your holiday after all, so you do not have even a day to waste messing around, getting lost and trying out new paths that might lead nowhere!
So this is why we put all these little Green Gems as articles on our Secret Places to Visit page and Secret Places Treasure Map.. so you can look down the photos, read the headlines or map the location and be able to quickly decide whether to read more detail and maybe go visit..
We really do not expect or want to encourage bus loads of visitors to descend on these little Green Secret Places either, but we know that will never happen, cos those busses will be whizzing around Bled, the Postojna cave and Piran..
But we always consider it a massive result for Green tourism if our own Lodge guests and just a few of you reading this get to go enjoy some of those different quieter magical places and a have a magnificent day out in Green Slovenia.. that will be a job well done!
Despite discovering the delights of nearby Grosuplje several years ago and naming them the Grosuplje Fab Four, including that cave AND one of the most amazing Fortress churches in Slovenia we mentioned above.. we had no idea that this Kingfisher Trail or Bird Reserve were both actually CONNECTED with two of the Fab Four and they are ALL on the SAME Kingfisher Trail hiking path!
It was only after meeting the Kingfisher Reserve people at the annual Tourism fair in Ljubljana and promising to go visit them in September to see a Bird Tagging Event that we finally were able to make all these fantastic mini connections when we visitied here!
Why is the Kingfisher Reserve and Wildlife Trail so Special?
A local family have lovingly created this bird reserve and hiking path over many years.
The centre piece of the Kingfisher Reserve is a series of interconnected Green ponds bursting with wildlife and several magical fairy tale hides to view it all from..
There is an info centre with toilets at the start of the park and you then walk down to the big ponds and islands surrounded by colour and info boards telling you all about the varied nature here.. and those beautiful Kingfishers!
We don't mind admitting that the main reason we came here in September as promised was to see a Kingfisher being tagged.. Our plan was to see this, take a few photos and then zoom off to a coffee ferstival that afternoon to do the same thing!
It doesn't often work out like that here in Green Slovenia though.. Cos what we discovered was so magical we ended up staying, exploring, discovering and going for a completely unexpected 2 hour hike into the forest! Coffee was postponed..
You will get so much more out of your Green Slovenian adventures if you have some flexibility and time in your plans to allow you to explore a bit longer or further..
Seeing a Kingfisher..
Like most early birds, you probably need to get up as the sun rises to see a Kingfisher..
Every September, the Kingfisher Reserve team host weekend events where they catch and count Kingfishers and other birds in big nets they set up, weighing and measuring them, checking their health and putting a tag on them for the record.
So you have to be here in the morning to see it, but running a hotel we have to get the breakfast done and guests out on their own Green Slovenia daytrip adventures before we can do new any adventures of our own, so it meant we arrived in Cerovo mid morning!
The lovely staff took us straight down to the heart of the event with kids running around discovering lots of stuff about nature and families making fantastic green memories together.. So it wasn't a huge surprise or too disappointing not to get to see any of the little blue fellas with the slightly punky hairstyle, cos there was so much else going on.
Even though visitors to Slovenia are now expecting to find beauty, our guests are always reminding us they still cannot quite believe how stunningly beautiful everywhere here is when they actually get here..
What especially strikes you here in Cerovo is the peacefulness of the place, set in the middle of a Green nowhere, surrounded by an explosion of Green fields and forest.
There are several magical hides set by the waterside to view the birds from and these give the reserve that extra special mystical look you might have imagined or dreamt about when planning your Green Slovenian holibubbles!
So we started a little walk around the main lake and were admiring the secret view over a pond from one of the hides when the owners' daughter breathlessly came to find us and said those magic words.. "hurry, we got a Kingfisher and are releasing it now!"
We rushed back with her to the bird tagging station and felt a bit like VIP's (Slovenians are so friendly, they are very good at making visitors feel a bit like VIPs), while the whole event was waiting for us to get back and the young bird expert tenderly held a little kingfisher in his palm and was explaining all about it in Slovenian, (of course, we were the only foreigners here at the event, cos nobody knows about it yet, until you read more)!
Phones at the ready, with a gentle nudge, the beautiful king of the little birds whooshed off and was gone into Green Paradise.. Wow, how lucky were we to see this!
We continued our walk around the beautiful reserve.. there are lots of little Green nooks and crannies to explore and you can also walk on some rocks to get out into the centre of the ponds..
But the highlight was the wooden tower seemingly constructed out of reeds by the family at the end of the park with a great 360 degree views over everything.
There are signboards everywhere, a frog hut and a moving island boardwalk that you can stand on and go out into the middle of one of the ponds too..
Whether you come on your own, with a family or a couple it will all be very lovely indeed!
This was an offical event, so there were home made burgers and other exhibits back at the visitor centre and it was then our hosts mentioned the hiking path they had created in the forest, requiring about 2 hours walking, fully signposted and starting from just next to the main entrance..
To hear something like this is like hitting the hiking jackpot for us, so this was where our plans really changed for the day and remember at this stage we had NO IDEA the path would hook up with the cave and the castle!
The Kingfisher Trail..
You need to follow the Ucna Pot (which means educational trail) signs with little Kingfisher drawings on.
Today was a big event for the reserve, so plenty of people were at the visitor centre, but within only moments walking down the track, we were soon surrounded by silent deep forest and immediately immersed in Green nature.. We were on a hike!
The track is easy to follow the whole way around and for the first hour or so you explore the forest with intermittent sign boards at the side of the path to inform you more about the local wildlife and nature here.
Without the signposts there are so many other potentially confusing little tracks and paths in the Slovenian woods, so most hikers would NOT be able to do this walk without the signposts.
This is why marked hiking paths like these are so special and important for us visitors to know about.. All you need to do here is follow the signs for an amazing walk!
The Kingfisher trail uses a mix of forest paths, sometimes little stone roads and also green grass tracks too. Like any trail in Slovenia, be prepared to go up and down, so you need to have a basic fitness too!
But this is also a nature trail, so there are also lots of bird boxes with numbers on attached high up on trees next to the path and just like seeing the next signpost, it is always a comfort to see a bird box as you know you are on the right path.
Typical of so many forest hikes here in Green Slovrnia, we saw nobody else in the woods at all, but we did see a sign that was just in Slovene for "Izvir" and luckily we know this means "spring" or the source of a new river..
So make a note of this word Izvir.. it is very handy for exploring anywhere in Green Slovenia actually, as there are so many of these springs here where a new river pops up out of a cave or some rocks or the side of a hill and you ain't gonna find one unless you notice the word Izvir on a sign!
On the Kingfisher trail hike, be prepared to do this extra little loop down to the river and back. It was a dry hot sunny September day, so the water level was low, but it was fun to walk along the spring a bit and find where the new water was first popping out.
Continuing on the track we realised that the info boards were numbered, so if you knew what the final number was, then you knew how far you were on this 5km or so trail! We didnt know what the final number was though!!
It can be a little nervy reading an info board all about forest wolves and jackals when you are in the middle of a thick forest and havent seen anyone for an hour!
We can reveal now that the wolf board is number 18 and then the last board we saw had owls on and was numer 22 on the way back through the forest to Cerovo..
Our nerves were soon settled after this wolf info board number 18 as it was not long before we popped up out of the forest onto a small road and we got some Deja Vue.. Looking around we realised we had been here before!
It was the entrance to the Supernova cave (Zupanova), which we have done a fantastic tour of a few years ago and although we knew it was near Grosuplje, we had no idea it was on this forest trail!!
The Zupanova cave is a fab hour tour though an ice cave and some really beautiful enormous chambers.. but you need a guide and need to book in advance..
This is particularly exciting cos we thought the only sensible way you could get here was by car, but now we know this fab forest hiking route to get here!
It was a little like winning at the bingo, cos we immediately realised the potential now for people who do not know a huge amount about the logistics around here to EASILY include this cave in their hike..
And not only this.. we also knew from our previous Grosuplje adventures that there was a magnificent little medieval castle just along the road from here, built to protect a church on top of a forested hill!
So the possibilities for an even more amazing day out for you guys were filling our heads as we took a little walk down to see the long entrance to the Supernova cave..
We then headed back to the walking route and were absolutely delighted to see the signs head off along the road directly to the castle, or Tabor as it is known!!
We climbed the hill a bit to get to the Tabor that we had visited a few years ago and enjoyed the views from high up on the hill. The castle is quite small as it was built snuggly around the church to protect the local people from Ottoman empire raids.
We knew the massive metal castle door would be locked, but we know how to get in touch with the nice man with the key and we also know that a visit inside the castle to properly explore the battlements AND the church inside and to learn more about it's undefeated story and history is an absolute MUST DO!
OK, you could just have a sit down and a sandwich outside the castle under the high walls and enjoy the view, but you would be really missing out big time.. In our humble opinion this is the second best Fortress Church in the whole of Green Slovenia and that is saying something!
What is a Fortress Church?
This is a particular middle European phenomena as during the Middle Ages we all know the Crusaders were crusading all the way to Jerusalem, but not so much is known about the Ottoman Empire knights and armies attacking this way.
Well, Slovenia is bang in the centre of Europe and was like a front line for these attacks, so when the Turks did their lightning fast raids, if you didn't get to cover quickly, you would be dead or recruited into their army.
Ottomans didn't fancy or need to attack high ground and this is where a lot of churches are, so some had castles or towers built around them for extra protection and they lit fires from high up to warn the next defensive tower in the chain that the attackers were on their way..
We think this is so cool and fascinating that we decided quite simply, to describe a church with a castle built around it as a Fortress Church and we did a whole seperate section on them in this website to help you find where they are!
This is why you really MUST go inside the Tabor fortress here on the hill to see just how snuggly the fortress was built around the church and to imagine how hundreds of people would shelter in here as the Turks marched past far below..
You probably have nothing like this in your own country, so here is a real chance to incorporate something really special into your Kingfisher Hiking Trail dayout and all you have to do is make sure the man with the key can meet you at the castle to let you in and show you around.. even 30 mins would do it.. Amazing..
The Kingfisher Trail continues from the Fortress church down into the forest back to Cerovo to make the most fantastic forest fantastic loop..
Just be a little careful when you pop out of the forest and return to Cerovo to make sure you can find the track down from the centre of the village to the Kingfisher Centre.. the track is next to this sign below with all the birds on it..
How do I find Cerovo?
That is the slightly tricky bit! Wouldn't it be great if you could just tap Cerovo into your navigation system and drive there, rolling up outside the nature reserve, but this might not happen as the roads are all very narrow and small, so all we are saying is please do not blindly follow your navigation and use your noodle!
The quickest way is to head for GROSUPLJE..
From the Lodge there are 2 main ways to get there, firstly and most simply, blasting up the motorway, cutting under Ljubljana to reach Grosuplje in about 50 mins and then hunting down Cerovo from there.. around 10 mins.. on those very little narrow, but beautiful roads we warned you about..
Otherwise there is an absolutely wonderful country route you could take from the Lodge on back roads that goes via Cerknica, Nova Vas, Rasica and Turjak which takes about 30-40 mins longer, but wow, the roads here are curvy, empty, dotted with cute little villages and very green indeed!
Even if you just do this route one way, it can give you some other really difficult choices to make for places to see in the day out as it adds the biggest Disappearing Lake in Europe at Cerknica and/or one of the biggest, best castles in Slovenia, Turjak, into your potential combos for this day out!
What about that!
OK back to the directions.. once you find Cerovo, the narrow little forest road will bring you to a little car park above the village where we were picked up by the Park tractor taxi for the Kingfisher day, but you could drive down into the tiny village centre and park there.
Best to walk down the track to the Kingfisher Centre from the village, but you could drive down the stone track that is wide enough for that tractor taxi and this same track is the very final stretch of the Kingfisher Trail Loop.. Arriving right outside the info centre and back at that very first sign for the trail..
Planning Your Day out on the Kingfisher Trail
The Kingfisher Reserve is called Vodomcev Gaj in Slovenian and the lovely people there can be contacted on the Kingfisher Hotline +386 (0)51 203 253..
They will help you organise your visit, including the hike and getting into the castle or the cave or both, with a tour of the Wildlife reserve afterwards, so suggest you get in touch, but please do make sure you keep to the times you agree!
So now you know about a few of the possibilities for this amazing day out, we will suggest a set of logistics to make it all work!
Avid birders might want to contact the lovely people at the Kingfisher Reserve to organise an early morning tour or just visit to the reserve and hang out, or you might just want to have a stroll around and enjoy the little piece of Green paradise the family have created here.
Regardless, it would be a good idea to phone at least the day before to check the reserve is open or to book your visit..
As we said, depending on what you want to organise, they can also help you get in touch with the right local people to contact for tours and access..
We would strongly recommend hiking the Kingfisher Trail sometime during the day and if you want to do either the Zupanova Cave tour on the way round AND / OR go inside the Tabor Fortress Castle you will need to be a little organised and maybe a touch determined!
Wow, what a day.. With a little bit of organistaion this is very possible, but you must please understand that if this cave or castle were in your country, there would be queues around the block to visit them and there would be staff on site all day..
But this is Green Slovenia and these amazing places have not been discovered by the rest of the world or even local Slovenians yet, so they are not open every day of the week and do not have staff sat there waiting fot your visit..
That does not mean for one second that you should not visit them, cos you should.. they will blow you away! But you will need to BOOK your visit ahead!
This is not impossible and the local tourist people are delighted to help.. they might be slightly bemused how you would know about these places at all or why someone from New York would want to visit a medieval Tabor or how someone from Barcelona wants to go down a massive Karst cave, but they will quickly get over that..
You just need to know this will not happen 10 mins before you arrive, so BE ORGANISED IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT ALL!
So you could also contact the local TIC at Grosuplje on +386 (0)82 007 157 for the cave visit and the Tabor Fortress tour.. You will need about an hour hiking along the Kingfisher trail to reach the Zupanova cave and then another 10-15 mins to the Fortress church.
The Cave tour is about an hour and the castle tour can be less, depending on the guides' time.. but do try to get up into the church tower for the view and the massive bells!
So have a great hike.. We will do that coffee festival next year and let you all know about it!
French Connection en Slovenie
