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.
From Klisura it runs 285 km to Klisura; allow about 6 h 29 of riding. It goes by way of Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve, Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve and back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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.
Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve is where the day begins. Next is Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve.
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 comes up about 96 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 141 km into the recorded legs you reach Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve. Next is back through 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.
back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve, late in the day. Next is Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve. That is the ride.
Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve → Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Central Balkan - Tsarichina Reserve is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.