Pokljuka

Pokljuka is Slovenia’s largest continuous spruce plateau: twenty kilometres of forest between Bled and Bohinj, raised to 1,100–1,400 metres, smelling of resin and blueberries in summer and wrapped in a silence winter valleys no longer know. The name is said to derive from an old word for “curve” or “fold” — and indeed the plateau is one rolling carpet of woods and clearings.

For centuries Pokljuka was shaped by herders and charcoal burners: Bohinj farmers drove their cattle each summer to high pastures whose names read like poetry — Uskovnica, Zajamniki, Konjščica, Lipanca. Zajamniki, with its unique line of wooden herders’ huts along a single lane, is today one of the most photographed alpine hamlets in Europe. The charcoal burners smouldered wood for the iron forges of Kropa and Bohinj — without Pokljuka charcoal there would have been no Kropa nails.

In winter, Pokljuka is Slovenia’s biathlon capital: the world’s best ski-shooters race for World Cup points at Rudno polje. And one more thing is true that sounds like legend: brown bears roam the Pokljuka forests. Encounters are extremely rare — a bear avoids humans — but knowing the forest isn’t empty gives Pokljuka its ancient, respectful hush.