It connects Upper Carniola with the Trenta Valley in the Slovene Littoral, and it is considered an excellent starting point for excursions to surrounding peaks.

Over Vršič, there was an old trail, which was upgraded for military purposes as well as for logging and timber transportation in the early 20th century.

[2][3] The Slovene common noun vršič literally means 'little peak', a diminutive form of the word vrh 'peak'.

The road was greatly improved in late 1915 to supply the Isonzo Front of World War I, and it was originally named after Archduke Eugen of Austria-Hungary.

On the south side of the pass there is a bronze monument in honor of the mountaineer and writer Julius Kugy, work by the architect Boris Kobe and the sculptor Jakob Savinšek.