Two Beautiful Loops in the Malá Fatra Mountains

Little Fatra (Malá Fatra) is a mountain range in Slovakia that captivates with its views and the variety of trails. You can find both gentle mountain ridges and rocky peaks, gorges, and waterfalls here.

I visited Little Fatra in October 2025. On the first day we did a loop via Chleb peak and Veľký Kriváň. A large part of the route ran along mountain ridges, where we enjoyed beautiful views. The second day’s trail was completely different in character. We walked through the rocky Diery gorges, where the path leads over ladders and footbridges, and climbed Veľký Rozsutec, which required overcoming several sections secured with chains.

Hiking Trail via Chleb and Veľký Kriváň

We started the hike at the parking lot by Chata Vrátna. The trail first follows the yellow trail, initially gently uphill to Chata na Grúni. From there it becomes steep. You need to gain about 500 m of elevation to reach the ridge, but there are no technical difficulties on the trail. It follows a ski slope at first, then a zigzag path higher up. The ascent from the parking lot to the ridge is 5.5 km and took us 2 hours.

The next 7 km follow the red trail along the mountain ridge, which includes several peaks: Poludňový grúň (1446 m), Steny, severný vrchol (1535 m), Steny (1626 m), Hromové (1636 m), Chleb (1646 m), Veľký Kriváň (1708 m), Pekelník (1609 m).

To reach Veľký Kriváň, the highest peak of Malá Fatra, you need to turn left and then return to the main trail the same way. All other peaks lie directly on the main route.

Despite strong wind, I remember this hike very fondly. Beautiful views accompanied us the whole time, and the frost on the grass and trees added even more charm.

At Bublen saddle the trail turns onto the yellow trail, then changes to blue and finally to green, which leads through the forest to the asphalt road and shortly after back to the parking lot.

The entire loop is 18 km long and with breaks took us 8 hours.

Hiking Trail via Diery and Veľký Rozsutec

The trail starts at the parking lot before the Diery trail. The first 1 km follows the blue trail, then there are two options – continue straight on blue along the stream or go up on green and then right onto yellow. The green trail leads over ladders and is one-way, so we chose that direction and returned via the blue trail.

After 50 minutes from the start we reached the junction with Koliba Podžiar – a small mountain hut where you can probably get something to eat, but the crowds didn’t encourage us to stop. We continued on the blue trail, where more ladders, rocks, and waterfalls awaited us.

After 1 hour 15 minutes we reached the clearing (Pod Tanečnicou), from where you can see Malý Rozsutec, and a few minutes later the Medzirozsutce saddle with a beautiful view of the Tatras.

There we turned right onto the red trail towards Veľký Rozsutec. From this point it’s about 400 m uphill, which took us 45 minutes.

After a rest and enjoying the stunning views, it was time to descend. This was the most difficult section of the trail. That doesn’t mean it’s extremely hard – a fit and experienced hiker should manage without major problems, but it’s definitely not a trail for everyone.

The trail reaches Medziholie saddle, where we turned right onto the green trail. We still had a long return to the parking lot ahead – 9 km through the village of Štefanová, Vrchpodžiar saddle, and Diery.

The entire trail was 21 km long and with breaks took us nearly 10 hours.

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