Trigrad Gorge is where the Rhodope Mountains show their teeth. The Trigradska river has cut a deep, narrow canyon through the limestone, with walls that rise some three hundred metres on either side, and the road runs along the bottom of it with the sound of water in your ear. Sunlight arrives late and leaves early, and the air is cool even in summer. The gorge sits close to the village of Trigrad, a small Rhodope settlement, with Devin, a spa town of about seven thousand, some sixteen kilometres away and the best bet for fuel and food.
The famous feature is the Devil's Throat Cave, or Dyavolskoto Garlo, where the river vanishes into a huge cavern with a thunderous roar. Legend says this is the entrance Orpheus took when he went down into the underworld to look for his wife Eurydice, and the Rhodopes are said to be his homeland. A wooden stairway leads you up to the mouth of the cave, and from the top the sight of the river disappearing into the dark is properly dramatic. The cave is a major site for bats and is open for visits at set times, so check before you arrive.
The riding is the sort that makes you slow down, which is the point. The road through the gorge is narrow, with tight bends, rough patches and the occasional rockfall, and the surface in this part of Bulgaria is variable, with potholes that can appear without warning. Cows, goats and sheep cross at will, and so do the occasional tractors. In the mountains, Pomak and Bulgarian villages sit on the slopes, with stone houses, wooden balconies and tiny mosques and churches, and local cooking, such as patatnik, a potato dish, and banitsa, the flaky cheese pie, is hearty and cheap.
Fuel in the high villages is scarce, so fill the tank in Devin or Smolyan. The weather in the Rhodopes can turn quickly, with afternoon storms in summer and early snow in autumn, so keep an eye on the clouds. The best time to come is late spring or early autumn, when the beech forests turn gold and the roads are mostly empty. After a ride through the gorge, a bowl of hot soup tastes better than almost anything.