CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
A 553 km round trip from Karlovo - roughly 12 h 27 in the saddle. On the way it passes Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve, Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve and back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 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.
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 is where the day begins. 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.
Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve comes up 45 km in. 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.
90 km in you reach Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak. 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, about halfway.
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.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak sits at 180 km, about halfway. 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 comes up 225 km in. 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.
270 km in you reach back through Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak. 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.
back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve, late in the day. Next is 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.
The route ends here after 553 km.
Central Balkan - Steneto 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 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak → Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve → Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak → back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve → back through Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is 48 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 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve → Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.