Tolminer Klammen

The Tolmin gorges near Tolmin mark the lowest point of Triglav National Park, where two rivers meet in turquoise gorges. Over walkways and the high-spanning Devil's Bridge, a loop leads past Dante's Cave and the wedged Bear's Head rock. A warm spring bubbles in the riverbed.

Highlights

• Turquoise double gorge
• High-spanning Devil's Bridge
• Dante's Cave and the Bear's Head rock
• Warm spring in the riverbed

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

In the south-west of the Triglav National Park, at the transition from the high mountains into the mild Soča valley, the Tolmin Gorges have carved themselves deep into the limestone. It is the lowest-lying point of the entire national park, a place where two mountain streams converge in narrow ravines polished smooth by the water. Like the whole of the Julian Alps, this rock too is riddled with karst phenomena, and very nearby lies the Migovec system, the longest cave in Slovenia, a labyrinth more than forty kilometres long beneath the surface.

The area around Tolmin is ancient settled land. At nearby excavations thousands of Iron Age graves came to light, evidence of a culture that flourished here almost three thousand years ago. The gorges themselves are entwined with legends and natural wonders: a huge block wedged between the rock walls bears the name Bear’s Head, and a warm spring rises in the midst of the cool gorge floor. High above the confluence the dizzying Devil’s Bridge spans the abyss, its name recalling the many legends with which the mountain people have always surrounded such uncanny places. Thus the Tolmin Gorges combine the spectacular geological history of the Julian Alps with a long human past, set within a landscape shaped by water and stone.