Thick forests with hundreds and thousands of different gravel and forest paths offer endless possibilities for the explorer in you. Mountain biking, cross country, trekking, just name your “weapon of choice” and hit the road. Bilogora, Kalnik, Vinica, Crna Gora hills and mountains offer many hidden trails, road sections, gravel and single trails. The enologists between us claim that the best time of the year to explore the County is early autumn because of the ripe vineyards and busy farmland - but we’d go there both in the summer and spring as well.
The slopes of Kalnik, Vinica and Bilogora, are full of vineyards and we’d advise you to follow the Đurđevačka wine road. From the higher parts of the road, riders can enjoy a scenic, panoramic view of the whole of Podravina.
Bilodravska route offers you, beside the climbs, long flat stretches along the Drava. Because of the climate it’s great to ride through regardless of the time of the year, however at different periods of the year, the routes visuals change from green in spring and summer to rich browns and yellows in autumn. Whenever you ride it, you will feel like you're exploring something new, something different.
When exploring the roads, you can hit the art galleries in Hlebine, Molve, Batinska or Gola, places famous for their naïve art. If you prefer history hit the “baroque” route from Koprivnički Ivanec through Kuzminec to Legrad, explore dozens of churches with beautiful frescos.
Going south-west towards Križevci the roads get a bit harder, slopes steeper and hills higher. You can visit the old town in Kalnik, many mountain refuges and hospitality centres, church forts in Miholjac, Sveti Petar Orehovec, Kalnik and in Gornja Rijeka.
Koprivnica boasts itself as the “most cycling friendly town in the world”. In the city centre, you can see the monument dedicated to the bicycle and you can explore the Bicycle Museum riding your own bike. The romantic centre of the town will take you on a trip through time, with Đurđevac offering you wide Pannonian plains, as hospitable as the locals.
When visiting Đurđevci remember to visit the only desert in Croatia, the Đurđevački Pijesci. Don’t go cycling over it as you won’t get too far on the sandy grounds that are slowly being cultivated into farmlands over the last few centuries.
The dunes will surprise travellers not expecting them, though the yellow sandy slopes make a nice contrast to the green surroundings of this green, fertile and rich land.
