CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
276 km from Kalofer to Kalofer, about 8 h 57 of riding. The stops in between: Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve, Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve and back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Above the little town of Kalofer, the southern wall of the Balkan range rises almost vertically, cut by deep gorges with waterfalls and covered in old beech and fir forest, and up there lies the Dzhendema reserve, one of the strict nature reserves within Central Balkan National Park. The name is said to come from a Turkish word for hell, a fair description of its steep, wild terrain. Above the reserve, Botev Peak, the highest summit of the Balkan mountains at 2,376 metres, stands at the heart of the park. Bears, wolves, chamois and wild goats roam these slopes, and the old beech forests of the park are part of the transnational World Heritage site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of Europe.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is where the day begins. Next is Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve.
Steneto is a deep, wild valley on the northern slopes of the Balkan range in central Bulgaria, enclosed by cliffs and covered in ancient beech forest, and it is one of the strict reserves of Central Balkan National Park, part of the Primeval Beech Forests World Heritage listing. Access is restricted, and nature is left to itself: old trees fall and rot, and the forest is home to bears, wolves, wild boar and a rich variety of birds, including several species of woodpecker and owl. The Cherni Osam river flows through the valley, and its clear waters are home to trout.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve.
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.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 138 km into the recorded legs you reach Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve. Next is back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve, late in the day. Next is Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve. That is the ride.
Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve → Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve → Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve → Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.