Ajdovscina - Plesa - Monte Nanos - Podnanos trail

We start from the village of Podnanos from which we ascend along the asphalt main in the direction of Nanos, gradient around 10 percent with breaths and views sweeping all the way to Trieste, very impressive. You soon arrive at the first hut, beyond which you continue to climb on narrower and steadily sloping asphalt, alternating with a few short stretches of dirt road and frequent concrete ramps. The landscape varies from meadows lashed by the bora, where no trees or shrubs can grow, and stretches of forest where the mountainside is more protective. Fatigue well repaid by the surroundings, which end at the top of Mount Plesa, where antennas howl in the wind and a hut with an adjoining changing room may allow a brief rest.

Proceed uphill a few meters and you come out onto grassland on a trail that runs downhill along the ridge. Spectacular for views and cyclability, despite the moving rocks that are sometimes very treacherous. Attention must be paid to hikers, always in good numbers even out of season, but there is plenty of space and the off-trails on grass are just as fun.

When you reach the little church of SV Hieronim, go up the cemented lane behind the church until you meet the road from the outward ascent; follow it uphill for a few hundred meters to the junction marked with Abram-Vipava signs; you take a left on the steep bumpy ascent and after an initial climb it leads into the Nanos plateau along Slovenskaplaniska pot 145, a fun, long single track that ends in the dirt road leading to the Nanos hut (visit the caged bear).

After a well-deserved rest you start again by taking the path to Podnanos crossing meadows and forests without losing too much altitude, in fact in some places you even have to push on, thus arriving at the viewpoint by a niche chapel at an altitude of 900m. Here you have to locate the stony path that descends steeply near the chapel, which starts with some zig-zags; the single track immediately becomes challenging both for the gradient and for the rough ground and narrow hairpin bends (S3); later the gradient decreases and you are able to descend in the saddle although remaining very technical. At Mt. Tabor it becomes smoother and more flowing but by now you reach the first houses of Podbreg and all that remains is to get to the cars.

Asphalt 30% - Dirt 40% - Trails 30%; Physical condition: challenging