Soteska PEKEL – Hell’s Gorge and the 7 Waterfalls

Soteska PEKEL – Hell’s Gorge and the 7 Waterfalls

Soteska Pekel (“Hell Gorge”) is famous among the locals as a wonderful place to swim and relax during the summer.

Soteska PEKEL – Hell’s Gorge and the 7 Waterfalls is a 1.5-kilometre gorge in central Slovenia, located near the Borovnica and 23 km from Ljubljana. Borovniščica Creek has created many erosion features such as pools, rapids, and waterfalls, of which five are extremely beautiful and well known because they plunge from 20 to 5 m. It has been proclaimed a natural value of national significance.

Source: www.wikipedia.org

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Address: Prešernov trg 1, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Route description

Access to Pekel is possible by car or on foot, along the local road from Borovnica. From the parking lot at the Pekel Guesthouse (335 m), the path leads us across a meadow, past the renovated Brancelj-Koširjev mill, over the first footbridge to our left bank, where at the entrance to the gorge there is a wooden sculpture of a “peklenščka”. It illustrates the path through Pekel, over which the Devil himself reigns. After 400 meters, we cross the Borovniščica riverbed again. Here, to the right above the path (Gallery), we can see the dolomite breaking on flat surfaces. Soon we climb to the first waterfall, which is the smallest of all. It flows over boulders and is 5 meters high.

The path climbs to a steep cliff, over which there are steps. Below them, the path branches off to the left bank of the riverbed, where a second waterfall, 16 meters high, falls behind a mighty rock wall. It was formed in a steep fault zone, into which the Otavščica River is still deepening its channel today. The water falls from the pool below the third waterfall along two parallel rock channels, then over the rather eroded steep rocks, spreads out in a fan shape towards the bottom and falls into a deep pool. From here, it is possible to continue the path to the left along the old, steep “mulatjera” above the third waterfall, where it joins the first path.

Otherwise, we climb the stairs, or the so-called “Dr. Oblak’s path”, to a viewing platform with a table and bench at the foot of the third waterfall, also called Kozjak (because of the chamois silhouette on the rock next to the waterfall), which is 18 meters high. The waterfall first slides down a chute, which then overturns so that the water falls 14 meters to a transverse crack and then another 4 meters to a pool. From here, the iron silhouette of a chamois on a rock pier on the other side of the gorge is clearly visible. The trail continues along the next stairs, which are set in a narrow and steep fireplace.

Source: www.visit-borovnica.si