Čeren viewpoint

When I was describing the viewpoint Grad, which is situated above the small village Drežnica, in one of my previous entries, I have mentioned that Drežnica has two viewpoints that are boosting nice views of the village. And since I have described one viewpoint, I have decided to also describe the second one. So, the second viewpoint is called Čeren, and it is situated right opposite Grad.

How to get there?

The name 'Čeren' in Drežnica dialect means something like 'a very sharp rock'. And when you are at the top, you can see where the name comes from. There is indeed a rock formation, that reminds me of a mountain peak. The rock formation is visible from almost anywhere in Drežnica, and you can not miss it, because it is the only rock formation around, situated in the middle of the forest.

To get there from the town centre of Drežnica,it will take you about half an hour. The trail is simple, and you do not have to be in a good body condition to get to the top. For the beginning, all you have to do is walk towards the village, called Drežniške Ravne. There are road signs everywhere, so you will know where exactly you have to go.

After you pass the last house of Drežnica (it is bright orange), you will encounter a strange junction, which looks like that:

Here, you have to turn right, and after about twenty meters, you have to turn left. Here, the path will enter the forest. It is fascinating how in summer, the trees and leaves form a green tunnel.

Soon, the green tunnel will be replaced by a thick pine forest, and you will also notice a stream on your left. The water forms beautiful pools all the way down.

Because this part is so dark and quiet (from time to time, you will not even hear the birds singing), it always reminds me of a horror movie and I am almost always scared that I will see a serial killer somewhere, when I am walking there by myself. But really, I think that this should be a great scene for a horror movie. Do you agree?

This is one of the two parts of the trail, when the path goes a bit upwards, but as you can see on the picture above, this is nothing dramatic at all.

When you reach the top of this part, you will arrive to the end of the forest. Here, you will see a meadow and an old barn. The barn looks really inviting, and you might therefore want to check inside it. But do not do it, because it is dangerous. Those barns (you will see one more on the way) have not been maintained for several decades, and therefore they are not stable. So if you go inside, you might end buried under the ruins. However, you can take some beautiful pictures of its exterior.

When you continue your way to the Čeren, you will see a lot of raspberries on your left side, if you are walking there in autumn time. Usually, not many people go here, so you can have a whole raspberry feast! Or, you can pick some and take them home. They are excellent with ice cream.

Now, you are almost at the end of the journey. After a while, you will see another barn on your left side, and this one is in an even worse condition than the previous one.

After the barn, pay attention. Just before you reach a group of trees, you will notice an almost invisible path on your right side. This is where you have to go. Keep walking until ou reach the trees at the top, and this is where the viewpoint is.

From the top, you will be able to see Drežnica just below you. The church seems so close that you will feel like you can touch the top of its belfry.

When you decide that you have seen enough, you can return back to Drežnica, following the same path that you took to come there. The way back is even easier, because the path only goes downwards.

Čeren in winter

For me, winter is a magical part of the year, especially when Drežnica is covered in snow powder. When this happens, all the kids in town go sledding to a hill behind the church – Cerkev Svetega Srca Jezusovega, which is its official name. There is a lot of kids in Drežnica, and the hill quickly becomes very crowded. If you go there, people will bump in you, and it can really quickly ruin the winter pleasures. Besides, considering the amount of people, sledding there, the snow gets completely ruined in less than a few hours. So what can you do? You can go sledding to Čeren!

Of course, not down the rocks, but down the hill that leads to the top. Here, you will be completely alone. Well, maybe there will be a kid or two, but that would be it. You can have the whole hill just for yourself. And you might even spot a deer or two there!

Even better than sledding on the ordinary sleds, is sledding on a plastic bag. Sounds funny? Actually, this is better than ordinary sleds, and Čeren hill is steep enough to go fast (but still not too fast). If you chose to sled down with a plastic bag, be careful, because there are a few rocks at some point. If you hit them, it can hurt.

There is a thing that you can do at Čeren in winter, that is even more magical than sledding. If you do it on Christmas, I guarantee you a great experience. Me and my family did this four years ago, while waiting for the midnight ceremony. Since it was winter time, it was already completely dark at about eight o'clock, and this is when we decided to go to Čeren with torches! It was so great, I got the feeling that the shadows were dancing all around me. But beware, this is definitely not for you, if you get easily scared!

The most beautiful part was definitely right before reaching the top. There was a lot of stars in the sky, and the only other light was the fire on the torches that we were holding. We went to the very top and looked down to Drežnica. It was so cool to see all houses, decorated with colourful Christmas lights!

If you decide to do this by yourself and you have not been to Čeren before, I strongly suggest you to go there first during the day, so you get to know the way. This way, you will know where exactly to go at night.

Čeren in spring and autumn

Spring and autumn are definitely the best times of the year to go to Čeren, and for two reasons. The first reason is because you can get to the very top, the grass is not high and it is not too warm. The second reason is, because there is not much leaves on trees, and you get to see a lot more than in summer, because most of the summer, the leaves cover all the good view.

You can also bring an old blanket and a snack, and have a picnic in the middle of the hill or at the top. Actually, this could be a great place for meditation, since not many people are going there. But I have not seen anyone doing this yet.

What about summer time?

I started to write this entry before taking pictures of the viewpoint. So after I finished, I decided to take a walk to Čeren to show you how awesome this place is. I admit that I have not been on the top for a few years. When I arrived to he second barn, I was surprised to see an electric fence there, and a few bulls inside. Luckily, I was not wearing any red clohes, but they were still looking at me with curiosity. And honestly, I did not dare to go through the fence to take the pictures of the view. But I promise I will go back when I return from Barcelona, when the bulls will not be there anymore.

So apparently, this place becomes a pasture in summer time. It must have started in the last few years. Too bad, because summer is the time when there are most tourists in Drežnica, and the view from up there is really superb. However, the tree branches, full of leaves, can block the view, but it is still worth it.

For the end

You will most likely not find the Čeren viewpoint in any guidebooks. But this should definitely not be a reason for avoiding this place. After all, not many travellers and tourists can say that they have seen Drežnica from above. Will you be one of them?