Our hike to the Seven Lakes

Stretch:From Planina Blato (1147 mabs), via the Seven Lakes (1685 mabs) to Ukanc (540 mabs)
Total ascend: 899 m (Google Maps).
Total descend: 1512 m (Google Maps).
Distance: 23.5 km according to Google Maps, but probably somewhere between 25 and 30 km because of the serpentine roads.
Time: It took us almost 10 hours, including breaks and photo stops.

Triglav Lakes Valley, also known as the Seven Lakes, is a rocky hanging valley below Mount Tičarica. It is a popular destination for hikers and it often serves as a first stop for those who want to climb Mount Triglav. The valley can be reached from Lake Bohinj in a couple of hours.

I am not an experienced hiker, so I tried to do a lot of research about how we could do a one-day trip to the valley and back from Lake Bohinj. Because the information available in English was scarce, I decided to share my experience here.

Broadly speaking, there are three different paths which take you to the Triglav Lakes Valley from Lake Bohinj. Because we had ruled out the Komarga cliff as too difficult, we decided to ascend from the Blato plateau (Planina Blato) and descend after a walk over the the Koma plateau to Dom na Komni.

Word of caution

In addition to your favourite hiking outfit, bring a map of the area and the equipment necessary for staying one night in an alpine hut (most huts offer food and drinks, so cash takes you a long way). While it is perfectly possible to do this hike in one day, a sudden change in weather conditions may force you to a halt. And although there are waysigns at every junction, a map provides assurance when there are 30 minutes between the signs and you begin to wonder if you have missed something. It should also be mentioned that we had perfect weather conditions during our walk and that it would be much more strenuous if the weather had been as warm as during the rest of our stay in Bohinj.

Ascending to Planina pri Jezeru

We began our day by taking a taxi from our accomodation in Ukanc up to Planina Blato (Taxi Bohinj, €45). That is a 600 meter ascend which we were happy to leave to a car. From Planina Blato, the path was steep, but we were anxious to get going and it took us only 45 minutes to ascend the 300 meters to the first hut. It was not until we saw all the small cottages at Planina pri Jezeru that we finally realized that we were actually hiking in the alps!

I could not believe that this was actually happening.

Continuing to Planina Dedno Polje

The next meadow we passed was Dedno Polje, where we found plenty of sheep and cattle.

Čez Prode

A few km after Planina Dedno Polje, we could choose between two different paths to the seven lakes. We chosed to take the detour south, Čez Prode, instead of the more difficult way over the Štapce pass. Yet, this was the only passage during our walk with some unexposed parts that could cause problems for people with difficult vertigo.

This was also the scariest part of our hike.

The seven lakes

It was a great feeling to arrive at the Triglav Lakes Valley, with the first lakes beautifully situated just below Mount Tičarica. If we were not making a one-day hike, I would have liked to spend some time in the nature here.

Our arrival to the Triglav Lakes Valley. To the left is the mountain hut and the twin lake. To the right is Tičarica.

This is where we had lunch. It is difficult to believe that we are 1680 m above sea level.

Walking over the Koma plateau

For our return, we had decided to walk over the Koma plateau and descend from the mountain hut Dom na Komni. Our path went up and down over hills and valleys, but it was a quite pleasant walk. The landscape was beautiful, but it offered fewer surprises than our ascend from Planina Blato.

Long parts of the walk was a stone path bordered by grass and wild flowers.

Occasionally we could see Lake Bohinj from the Koma plateau. To the left is Pršivec, the highest summit on the north shore of Lake Bohinj. To the right you can spot the Vogel ski center.

The descent

When we asked an old man in Ukanc about whether our descent would be steep, he just laughed at our question.
– No, this is the soldiers route. The Austrian soldiers used it to reach the Soca front.

And indeed, this was an easy descend, prepared for the Austrian-Hungarian supply lines during WW1. However, this serpentine road was so repetitive that I doubt that we would have the mental strength to walk this path in the opposite direction. If I would have ascended this way, I would have brought a few podcasts as entertainment.

This is what the descent looked like. Because we had to descend 1000 meters, the serpentine roads soon became repetitive.

At a museum in Kobarid we found photos of soldiers using the same path. This one is from February 1916.

The descent offered occasional views of the lake.

Lake Bohinj

The hike ends at Ukanc, on the western shore of Lake Bohinj. The lake is every bit as beautiful as Bled, but much less crowded, so do not forget the lake-side time in your travel plan.

The view from one of the beaches on the Western side of the lake.