The Balkan range, called Stara Planina in Bulgarian, runs across the whole of the country like a long, wooded wall, and it gave its name to the entire Balkan peninsula. The Tsarichina reserve lies in its central part, within the Central Balkan National Park, in a deep valley that holds some of the oldest and best preserved forests in Bulgaria. The beech and fir trees are huge, and in places have never been cut, so the forest has the tall, silent, shadowy character of ancient woodland. It belongs to the beech forest sites that UNESCO linked together across Europe.
The animals are shy. Brown bears, wolves, lynx, chamois and deer live in the park, and the cliffs of the high ridge are a home for golden eagles and peregrine falcons. Wildflowers, including some endemic to the Balkans, cover the mountain meadows in spring and early summer. The access to the reserve is strictly controlled, since it is a place for conservation and science, so the way to appreciate it is from the edge, or on the marked trails in the national park around it.
The nearby villages have a story of their own. Koprivshtitsa, about sixteen kilometres away, is the town where the April Uprising against Ottoman rule began in 1876, and its hillsides are covered with beautiful nineteenth century houses with colourful wooden balconies, in the style of the Bulgarian National Revival. Klisura, also close, took part in the same uprising and was burned in reprisal, and it has a memorial. The mountains and the villages are bound up together in the Bulgarian idea of national history.
For riders, this is excellent country. The roads cross the Balkan through a series of passes, with the long climbs and descents on good tarmac, bends that follow the contours, and views of forested slopes and distant peaks. The Shipka Pass, with its huge memorial to the Russo-Turkish war of 1877 and 1878, and the Beklemeto pass farther west are among the most famous. Traffic is moderate, with some trucks on the main routes, and weather in the mountains can change quickly, with fog and rain even in summer. Snow closes some of the higher roads in winter.
Koprivshtitsa has a few fuel stations and small restaurants, but the bigger towns of Karlovo and Pirdop, in the valley to the south, are the best places to fill the tank. In the villages, try the local yoghurt, a bowl of bean soup and grilled meat, with a glass of rakia, and look out for the elderly women selling homemade jam by the roadside.