MTB Nanos

Country: Slovenia
Mountain: Nanos
Length: 31 km
Elevation gain: 1480 m
Maximum elevation: 1262 m
Tehnical difficulty: 5/5
Download GPS Track: Nanos_Cyclotrail
Date of ride: 06.01.2023.
Suitable for E-bike: Yes

Another great ride to for opening bike season. This was first real ride for my Santa Cruz Bronson and first time that Ivan was riding his eMTB on this kind of exploring ride. Nanos is high karst ridge in the western part of province of Notranjska which separates northern part of Slovenia with Primorje. It is 12 km long and 6 km wide plateu with a cut off steep edge. For mountaineers, the most interesting is the southern peak of Pleš (1262 m), where a TV transmitter is located under the very top, and a little further down is the “Vojkova koča” mountain lodge, named after the national hero Janko Premrl – Vojko. This peak is also our destination. Mountain lodge was under reconstruction so we couldn’t go inside, but hosts made available food and drinks in outside tent.

We started our ride from Podnanos. First part of ascent is on paved road. After about 9 km we connected to very interesting  (mostly uphill) singletrack that is rideable if conditions are good and if you are in good shape, but we didn’t meet any of the requirements, so we had to walk on some sections. There is an option to avoid this part and continue with the road, but this was more interesting for us. After 2 km we again connected to road and continued on macadam to mountain hut.

We knew that peak will offer great views, but what we saw was really amazing. Even though most of the ascent was in fog,  on peak Pleš we were above clouds with clear sky.  I had a feeling like we were on airplaine.

First part of descent is on plateau with many cobinations of lines that you could choose. It remainded me on descent from Hahlić. Vegetation and ground is very similar. After this descent we had a few ascents and descents that led to final trail toward Podnanos. This trail is very technical,  particulary in the upper part. First few serpentines we decided not to ride because it was too risky, specially in wet conditions and leaves, but after few meters starts fun that lasts up to the end of trail. Lower part of trail becomes fast and flow. Best way to end this kind of ride.

There are many options to ride Nanos, this is one of the most technical. If you are into easy going trails, you can find them on the internet, but if you are into technical trails, I would recommend you this one.

Map of route:

Elevation profile:

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