One of Slovenia's most pristine areas, Kočevski Rog's virgin forests have been a protected nature area for more than a century. As many as 250 brown bears are believed to live here, as well as lynx and fox. Ten hiking trails, mostly using old forestry roads, wind their way through dense fir and beech trees, leading to small caves and sinkholes, hill peaks (the highest, Veliki Rog, is 1099m), the ruins of the 13th-century Rožek Castle, and many WWII sites.
During WWII, Partisans under Marshal Tito's command used this forest as headquarters; the nerve centre was Base 20, where 26 barracks homed the Partisan leadership in 1943 and 1944.
Base 20 is also the trailhead for one of Kočevski Rog's shorter hiking trails. The circular Resistance Trail takes you past various memorial cemeteries and the Jelendol Partisan Hospital which treated the injured from 1943.
For more information on all of the hiking trails, ask the Dolenjske Toplice TIC for the Kočevski Rog Excursion Map which marks all of the trails and historic and natural sites in the forest.
