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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 529 km round trip from Karlovo - roughly 9 h 06 in the saddle. On the way it passes Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve, Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve, Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak and Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 41 km this is Bulgaria Shipka Pass Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Just above Karlovo, the Stara Reka tumbles out of the Balkan mountains through a steep gorge of beech and rock, and climbing alongside it you leave the town's lowland heat behind within minutes. The reserve that bears the river's name protects the upper part of that valley and forms part of the Central Balkan National Park, one of the largest protected areas in this part of Europe. Its ancient beech forests are included in the UNESCO listing that ties together primeval beech woods across the continent.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is where the day begins. Next is Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve.
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 comes up about 42 km into the recorded legs. Next is Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve.
Peesh skali means singing rocks, after the way the wind howls and whistles through the cliffs and crags of this reserve on the slopes of the central Balkan range. It lies on the northern side of the main ridge, not far from Botev, at 2,376 metres the highest peak of the Balkan mountains, and it protects beech and spruce forests, alpine meadows and rocky slopes, part of Central Balkan National Park. Chamois live on the crags, and bears, wolves and golden eagles roam the area. Access to the reserve is restricted, but trails in the surrounding park offer spectacular walks.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 84 km into the recorded legs you reach Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve. Next is Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak.
In 1944 soldiers digging a shelter on the edge of Kazanlak broke into a small brick chamber and found themselves looking at some of the finest ancient paintings in the Balkans. The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, built in the fourth century BC for a ruler of the Thracians, has a narrow corridor leading to a round, beehive-shaped burial chamber, its dome covered with frescoes of a funeral feast: the dead man and his wife seated at a table, servants bringing gifts, horses and chariots racing around the top. The colours and the tenderness of the figures are extraordinary. It was listed by UNESCO in 1979.
Read the complete Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, about halfway. Next is Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve.
The Central Balkan National Park covers the high spine of the Stara Planina, the Balkan Mountains, which divide northern Bulgaria from the Thracian plain. Sokolna is one of the strict reserves within the park, on the steep southern slopes above Kalofer and Pavel Banya, where beech forests climb towards bare ridges and peaks. Its old beech woods are part of the World Heritage site of ancient beech forests, and the area is rich in wildlife, from bears and wolves to chamois and birds of prey.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve sits at 266 km, about halfway. Next is back through Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak comes up about 340 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 442 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve. Next is back through 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 through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve, late in the day. Next is Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 529 km.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve → Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve → Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is 102 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak → Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve → back through Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak → back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve is 102 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve → Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.