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Page Type: Mountain/Rock

Location: Julian Alps, Slovenia, Europe

Lat/Lon: 46.26632°N / 13.65862°E

Object Title: Krn


Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Elevation: 7362 ft / 2244 m


Page By: Vid Pogachnik

Created/Edited: Jun 13, 2003 / Sep 14, 2014

Object ID: 151654

Hits: 17662 

Page Score: 89.01%  - 28 Votes 

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haubi - North-western horizons

Name Games

Krn has an interesting flip-flop history, related to his name. In Slovenian language krn means that what remains when the rest is cut off. Stump would be a close-by translation, even if not the completely exact one. In the sad history of the western part of Slovenian national territory it happened that Italians occupied the country. They heard people naming their mountain "Krn" and confused that word with "črn", which means "black". As they hat to italianize everything, they translated mountain name into "Monte Nero". And that name, completely irrelevant, persists still today.


Krn Gets Presented




Summit Views

Panorama from..
alex_vega - The eastern panorama of Krn


Towards the west Viš and Montaž group, Kanin group and Julian Prealps will catch your eye. Behind them are the more distant peaks of Carnic Alps and Dolomites.


Long time ago on the summit...Towards Triglav
KrnTowards the north-west
Fantastic sunset..Sunset

General Orientation

Krn group lies on the very south edge of Julian Alps (East, Slovenian part). On north, west and south the border is Soča river and its tributaries, on east the group connects to South Bohinj Range.


Krn group from opposite...
Krn from the south

Southern slopes of Krn

are very high - more than 2000 meters above the beautiful Soča river. If you are looking on Krn from the opposite side of the valley (Kolovrat hill) the scenery is great: Deep below the turquoise river, surrounded by green meadows, above it steep, wild slopes where you can distinguish a few waterfalls falling through woods, between wild rocks several plateaus with small villages, the last one (also named Krn, 960 m) being already at the bottom of a big amphiteater. Above 1000 meters the slopes are grassy, very broad, intermitted with rocks. The neighbouring, lower mountains at the east are more rocky, some of them falling also towards south with steep walls. The short SW ridge rises one again to the grassy summit of Kožljak, 1602 m, and then lowers down towards Soča.

Towards the north


Towards the NW Krn sends a strong, many kilometers long ridge, named Krnčica. It has several peaks, the last of them is the shoulder of Kal, 1700 m, from which the ridge sinks down into the woods above the valley of Soča river.

West face


Frontline in World War I

In the middle of nowhere -...
WW1 barracks

Great evening panorama from...
Memories on WW1



Getting There

Soča valley can be reached from south (from Italy over Gorizia, from Slovenia over Idrija or Ajdovščina) or north (over Vršič Pass from Sava valley or over Predel pass from Tarvisio). It's also possible to arrive there from west, from Udine over the Učja/Uccea pass or from Udine to Cividale and then to Stupizza pass - so reaching Kobarid and then Drežnica or Krn village.

Krn itself is most comfortably approached from south. Through the Soča valley the regular bus line is operating. By car you can drive from south up to the Krn village (960m) or to Drežnica village (540 m) on the western side. Above Drežnica alpine meadows of Zaprikraj and Zapleč (1200 m) can be reached by car, but from them, you must take an ascent over the long NW ridge. Remember again - ascending the summit from the Soča valley is a 2000 meters of altitude endeavour. From north you can drive by car into Lepena valley (700 m) where the trailhead starts, bringing you to the Krn lake. Many tourists also ascend Krn from Bohinj valley - far on east - especially in times of tour skiing or long range hiking.

Routes list

Krn massif from the west, from near Kobarid.

Only three most obvious routes are named and shortly described here.

1. From the south.

From Krn village (960 m) you continue by a narrow road to the alpine meadow Planina Kuhinja (1000 m) from where you continue by a marked path towards north. All the slope is clearly ahead of you, in 3 hours you will reach the top. This slope is also perfect for skiing in winter and early spring.

2. From Krnsko jezero

(lake) on the northern side (to the hut here you will need 2 hours from the Lepena valley). The marked path goes by the lake, reaches the alpine meadow Planina Na Polju (1520 m, water) and continues by a shallow valley towards south. In two hours you will reach Krnska skrbina (notch, 2058 m) where you turn right (westwards) and reach the summit in next 20 minutes. All the time easy, marked hike, in winter also a fine ski tour.

3. From Drežnica village.


You might find interesting also this page.

Red Tape




When To Climb

Krn can be ascended almost any time of the season.


Weather: see the official page for Slovenia here.



In the valley of Soča you will find everything a tourist could wish. Accomodation of course too, either in camps in hotels or in private rooms.


On the mountain there are the following huts:

1. Gomiščkovo zavetišče (hard to pronounce, a?) just on the summit of Krn. Opened in summer.
2. Planinski dom pri Krnskih jezerih (The hut by Krn Lakes), 1385 m. Opened in summer.