The old town of Veliki Kalnik and the Seven Teeth Trail

Note: We have rated the trail as moderately difficult. Two thirds of the educational trail on the northern side of the ridge are easy and suitable for children of all ages. The last third of that trail has a good many narrow, exposed sections, which during the wet season are probably muddy and slippery as well. Extra care is needed there, because the drops on the right-hand side may not look dangerous when they are overgrown with forest like this, but they are. That part of the trail is not for younger children or for anyone afraid of heights. The trail on the southern side is also easy, and only just below the summit (under the transmitter mast) does it get steeper and rockier, though it is not dangerous. For those who decide to go along the ridge and climb the “teeth”, we would rate that part as moderately difficult to difficult, depending again on which variant you choose. It is precisely this ability to dose the difficulty that makes the whole trail special.

The Kalnik range lies north-east of Medvednica and stretches across two counties, Varaždin and Koprivnica-Križevci. The highest peak of Kalnik is Vranilac (643 m), which offers a beautiful view in every direction over this part of Croatia. It can be reached from several directions, and as we wanted to see the old town of Veliki Kalnik we opted for the Seven Teeth Trail, since it starts from the very car park beside the fortress.

You approach the site from the direction of the village of Kalnik. Once you are through the village, the view of the old town of Veliki Kalnik opens up for the first time beyond a bend. The sight is impressive and drew a gasp from everyone in the car. Impatient, we pulled into the first lay-by to take it in in all its grandeur.

It is a complex of fortifications dating from the 12th century onwards. It was here that the Tatars were defeated for the first time, and the Ottomans met a similar fate in 1565, after which they withdrew and people settled this area below the Kalnik range.

The Hungarian-Croatian king Sigismund of Luxembourg stayed in the fortress with his wife Barbara of Cilli, the “Black Queen”. The old town changed hands repeatedly, and so many well-known names from our history pass through it – Erdödy, Drašković, Keglević, Orehovečki, the Kosače…

There is also a well-known legend that villagers from the surrounding settlements saved Béla IV and the garrison of the fortress here. During the siege the food supplies had run out, and the villagers brought them plums by night, which helped them survive. In gratitude, once the siege was lifted, Béla granted them titles of nobility.

We parked the car in the spacious car park below the mountain hut. The hut was closed, which is hardly surprising given that it was a weekday. It may sound odd at first, but most mountain huts only open at weekends. There are plenty of broad meadows around, which make the whole place ideal for a day out!

The Seven Teeth Trail sets off west from the hut and leads to the very summit of Kalnik. Running parallel to it is an educational forest trail better suited to day trippers and children. The “teeth” are the rock formations lined up along the ridge trail. Over 200 sport climbing routes have been bolted here. The trail is not especially hard, but it requires the use of your hands and a down-climb on a cable at the seventh tooth below the summit. If there is ice on the trail, or it is wet after rain, choose the educational trail instead!

The trail is designed to offer various degrees of difficulty, so you can choose for yourself how to tackle it. At the very first tooth, for instance, there is a harder climb on the left and an easier one on the right.

After the first climb the trail carries on west, but there is also the option of climbing to the top of the tooth. That part of the climb is easier than the opening section. It is the same with the second tooth. At the foot the climb is a little more demanding, after which the easier part runs to the very top. Those who prefer can carry on along the trail without climbing the tooth.

The educational trail running through the forest on the northern side is visible the whole time. You can join it in several places, so you do not have to turn back and down-climb individual teeth. That is what we did at the third tooth. The climb up the third tooth is quite exposed in one section. Holding onto a branch, you are literally dangling over a drop. The move is not hard, but this time we had a young girl with us who is not used to hiking, so we judged there was no need to take an unnecessary risk and dropped down to the educational trail, which we followed on towards the summit. It is in any case the usual rule in hiking that the pace and the choice of difficulty are set by the “weakest” member of the party.

In its last third the educational trail turns into a slightly steeper climb, but it does not require the use of your hands. That does not mean care is not needed here. In several places you are exposed to steep drops on the right, and the trail is narrow. In wet weather mud certainly forms, so you really do need to judge properly whether it is safe to pass. There is only one place where a cable has been installed for anyone who does not feel confident. We think that is not enough.

The trail finally passes just below the seventh tooth and ends above the radio and television transmitter. It is another few dozen metres west to the summit. We met a poskok (nose-horned viper) here, so that too is worth bearing in mind, especially when climbing with your hands.

The views from the top are truly beautiful! There are also a couple of paragliding launch points here.

The way back makes a circuit down the southern side, which is far easier than the northern one. Although there are several paths, the most usual is the one that comes out at the Kalnik mountain hut.

Kalnik is also known for its medicinal springs. To the east, by the village of Apatovec, is the Apatovec spring, where the well-known Kalnička mineral water is bottled. There used to be a health resort at Apatovec, but today the nearest one is some 10 kilometres to the north, at Varaždinske Toplice.