Address
Trboje
GPS
46.199832031534, 14.4076359272
Level of difficulty 1 paddel | Gastronomy 1 pitcher | Length 4.8 km Time 50 - 70 minutes
Near Trboje, south of Kranj, Slovenia's longest river backs up almost unnoticed and, due to its wooded banks, forms a rather obscure reservoir, which is a real SUP insider tip for non-residents.
General information
Navigation rules
Most of the time you are alone on the water here anyway. If this is not the case, please avoid fishermen and their boats and keep a safe distance from swimmers. Also keep enough distance from the power plant!
Dangers and risks
The staircase from the parking lot to the reservoir is a little winding and steep. With the inflated iSUP or hardboard you should be particularly careful not to hit anything and damage either the board or the building. There is also a risk of stumbling in sandals if you are careless. It's best to inflate the iSUP down by the lake.
Inflating next to the street could be dangerous if there are too many cars parked and there is little space between the parking area and the street. If in doubt, get everything ready for use at the parking lot in front of the sports field on the opposite side of the street or down by the lake.
Depending on the water level, the few entry points along the publicly accessible bank can also be clayey or steep. Here too, special caution is required.
Leaves, branches and small driftwood can accumulate on the lake and therefore float on the surface of the water. It could get stuck on the fins and slow you down.
Of course, you should always avoid the power plant as a potential danger zone and it is therefore best to turn around 50 m before it.
Directions
Coming from Kranj, it is best to keep to the left of the Sava and first take Svaska cesta road towards the southeast until it leads into Cesta 1. maja street in a left-hand bend. At the intersection turn right and continue straight ahead on Cesta 1. maja for five kilometers until you arrive at the parking lot above the reservoir and in front of the bar Čolnarna Trboje. There are a few speed cameras along this short route several meters high and aimed at the cars from above, making them easy to miss.
Parking
There are parking spaces on both sides of the road. On the left side you'll find a parking lot in front of the sports field with a little more space, on the right side of the road there is the parking lot of the bar with relatively little distance from the road. If possible, you should park in front of the sports field.
Swimming
The lake naturally carries the river water of the Sava and is therefore slightly cooler than normal bathing lakes. However, in midsummer it is quite pleasant, but you should also expect that on certain days the water surface will be heavily covered with leaves and branches, as the lake is completely still and shows almost no water movement. This promotes deposits on the water. In any case, there is also an optimal infrastructure around the bar for swimming, because in addition to the SUP rental, there is also a lawn and enough shade.
Tour
Leave from the bar on the bank either to the left or to the right and paddle along the entire bank until you reach the starting point again.
Length
4.8 km
Time
50 - 70 minutes
Start and landing
On the bank around the bar or at the SUP rental jetty.
SUP rental
Superb Center (SUP center Trboje)
Trboje 1a, 4000 Kranj
Phone +386 (0)69 670 769
Paddling between churches, goosanders and seagulls
The Trboje Reservoir (also called Lake Mavčiče) owes its existence to the Mavčiče hydroelectric power station, which was commissioned in 1987. Just a few kilometers south of Kranj, every SUP beginner can comfortably paddle along the emerald green waters of the Sava which is otherwise only reserved for experienced river paddlers. However, due to the hidden location of the reservoir, not too many paddlers get lost here, as all the banks are heavily overgrown and lie invisibly deep beneath the passing roads.
This isolation of course makes the lake interesting because apart from the surrounding private properties, there is actually only one official public access to the lake. It offers a nice bar and a SUP rental. If you can't find a free space on the parking lot along the side of the road, you can simply move to the opposite parking lot next to the sports field.
If you still have your SUP packed in your board bag, you should shoulder it and pump everything up at the water's edge, because the descent over two stairs and past the house is steep and sometimes narrow. It's best not to go down here in sandals or barefoot, because the steps are covered with pebbles. Once you reach the bottom, there is a slightly more extensive section of the bank than you might have expected. Along the almost one hundred meters, paddlers will find entry points into the green-colored reservoir either at the jetty of the SUP rental or at a few other places. However, depending on the water level, there can be a small, sometimes steep, difference in level. The ground along the jetty is also quite clayey - so launch the SUP carefully!
Thanks to the bar and the relaxed background music, there is a pleasant atmosphere here and this also beautifully reflects the sleepy calm by the water. And as is the case with a reservoir - the water barely moves. That's why leaves and small driftwood are often scattered in the still water along the banks. Normally such small bodies of water and short paddling tours aren't my thing, but this hidden tear-shaped bulge along the Sava piqued my interest.shore there isn't much to see here. However, you are surrounded by four churches in a small area of around one km². So, anyone who paddles this reservoir cannot claim to have been abandoned by all good spirits.
I had expected at least a little current towards the power plant, but I initially paddled to the right aka the Sava tributary from the north without any current. Apart from a a private house between the trees and a few rowing boats, some of which are half-sunken, lying on the
You can also easily paddle the Sava upstream from here. Gregor and his team from the SUP rental often lead tours to the Zarica gorge and further to Kranj. I'll reserve that for my next trip to this region and instead point my board in the opposite direction.
On the west bank only one fisherman shares the reservoir with me, while in the middle of the water dozens of seagulls and goosanders are obviously taking advantage of the hot midday sun for a siesta. The western bank forms a pointed protrusion on its right-hand bend, behind which there is a small pub, which I can't even make out because of the dense vegetation. So I paddle towards the village of Mavčiče and the dam. Here again there are a number of small obstacles in the water and so some branches get caught on my fin and slow down my paddling strokes quite a bit.
Shortly before the power plant I pass some weeping willows, which I immediately notice because they don't fit in with the rest of the flora. Although there are a few decent access points here, they all appear to be on private land. Apart from that, it would hardly be possible to park along the road because it is too narrow and connects seamlessly to private gardens.
Just in time before the power plant, I turn left and start my way back along the wooded eastern bank. Shortly afterwards there is a small ungrown area on the east bank, which could possibly also serve as a tour entrance and exit as it is on a gravel path. However, it is unclear to me whether you are allowed to drive and park here if you do not live here or are involved in farming.
Philosophizing about it is a waste of time anyway, so I continue paddling, enjoying the overwhelming view of the Karavanks. I approach a steep stone wall in front of me. It rises up an estimated 10 m, where a number of trees, including their roots, are standing quite freely in the air. Earth and rock masses must have crashed and fallen into the water several times.
From here my exit point at the Čolnarna Trboje bar is already clearly visible and so I sprint the remaining half kilometer of my circumnavigation of the reservoir towards the public lake access in order to enjoy a little workout. When I reach the shore, my sweaty body is crying out for some cooling because with the air temperature at 31° C, no one stays dry for long. I then drive to Kranj for a hearty lunch and treat myself to my standard Slovenian menu at Das ist Valter Šopska Salad, Pljeskavica and a cold beer. As always, Slovenia is a delight – both on water and in culinary terms.
