Well-maintained gravel roads in border country

Slovenia consists of seven historical regions (Slovene Pokrajina). One of them is Lower Carniola, called Dolenjska in Slovenia. As part of the main region of Carniola, it was part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Lower Carniola borders on its neighbour Croatia in the south, with which it shares a long border. And this border is interesting in terms of off-roading in that it has an extensive network of gravel public roads on the Slovenian side. Forest workers, farmers, the occasional tourist - that's all that happens on these tracks. So why asphalt them? The Slovenian state saves money this way, and the off-road community rejoices.

Coming from the north towards Stari Trg pri Ložu, you reach Hrib-Loški Potok, turn left in the town and then right at the end of the town. And then you're rolling along one of those typical Slovenian forest and meadow tracks. High gear, low revs. Fine grit covers the fairly wide, flat road. Pitfalls in the form of holes or gullies are not to be expected. At a clearing in the forest, the route branches off to the right and winds its way unobtrusively up to a height of 1,080 meters. Traffic? Little. A short stretch of asphalt interrupts the off-road fun, then gravel crunches under the wheels again. The track now becomes increasingly narrower, and traffic tends towards zero. A turn to the right, a handful of perfect switchbacks, then the wheels roll into the town of Podvrh and the route is over.