Julius Kugy Alpine Trail

Julius Kugy was a mountaineer, writer and botanist who explored the Julian Alps around the turn of the 20th century and is remembered as a friend of the people of the Alpe-Adria region. The circuit that bears his name grew from an idea of 2004 among the Alpine clubs of Carinthia, Slovenia and Friuli-Venezia Giulia; it was dedicated to Kugy in June 2019 and the three clubs signed an agreement on it in September 2020.

The loop links five ranges: the Carnic Alps, the Gailtal Alps, the Karawanks, the Kamnik-Savinja Alps and the Julian Alps, including Triglav National Park. It climbs from 198 m to 2,401 m, passes the Peace Stone at Lake Wolayer and the meeting point of the three countries, and adds up to about 45,000 m of ascent.

The official site describes 720 km in 30 stages with eight variants and about 270 hours of walking, routed and waymarked with the Carinthian branch of the Austrian Alpine Club together with its Italian and Slovenian partners. Being a loop it has no official starting point, the clubs note that the route is still being adapted, and a booking and information centre is run by Trail Angels.