In an attempt to attract tourists, communities across Slovenia have been rushing to set up bike paths in recent years. Particularly during the weekends, the paths are full of urban dwellers enjoying their rides away from busy city traffic.
But one bike path in Slovenia’s Koroška (Carinthia) region stands apart from the rest. It begins in the hills above the mining town of Mežica – and then vanishes underground. The path leads tourists on a five-kilometer underground journey through an abandoned mine tunnel.
The mine is one of several in a region with a long tradition of zinc and lead mining. Between the 17th and the 20th centuries, no fewer than 800 kilometers of tunnels and shafts were dug beneath the mountain – more than the distance from Slovenia to Berlin. But when the mine was closed down in 1993, the tunnels were left abandoned.
Several years ago, local tourist organizations decided to set up an underground bike trail through one of those tunnels. Visitors can now don flashlight-equipped helmets and take their bikes for a ride through a 5-kilometer stretch of old mine tunnels. The terrain can be rough in places since the route takes cyclists through unreconstructed mining tunnels that haven’t changed since the mine was closed. But the experience is authentic; cyclists can even see old mining carts and tracks by the trail. Because there are no steep climbs or descends, the route is even appropriate for children.
When the cyclists emerge on the other side, they find themselves in an entirely different valley – and just a short ride away from a mining museum that tells them more about the area’s history.
Tourism has the potential of becoming an important source of prosperity in an industrial region hit hard by the economic recession. The underground bike path is one example of how innovative thinking can place tourism on the map even in a relatively remote part of Slovenia.