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 685 km to Klisura; allow about 16 h 33 of riding. The stops in between: Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve, Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve, Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve and Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 114 km this is Bulgaria Shipka Pass Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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 - Kozya stena Reserve.
High on the main ridge of the Balkan range, the Stara Planina, that runs across Bulgaria from west to east, the Kozya Stena reserve protects a wild landscape of limestone cliffs, beech forests and alpine meadows. Its name means goat wall, after the chamois that live on its crags. The reserve is part of Central Balkan National Park, one of the largest protected areas in Europe, and since 2017 its oldest beech stands have been inscribed alongside the primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and the rest of Europe. Wolves, bears and wild boar roam the forests, golden eagles soar over the ridges, and the meadows burst with wildflowers in early summer.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 170 km into the recorded legs you reach Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve. Next is Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve.
Bulgaria's Balkan range gave the whole peninsula its name, and the central stretch is where it looks most like a proper mountain wall. The Severen Dzhendem reserve lies in the Central Balkan National Park, the high ridge that runs east to west above the Rose Valley. To the south the land drops towards Kalofer and Karlovo, and to the north it falls away into the foothills and the towns around Apriltsi and Troyan. The tallest peak in the range, Botev, rises to a little over 2,300 metres not far from here, and the high ground is grassy ridge, cliff and old beech and fir forest.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve, about halfway. 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 sits at 181 km, about halfway. Next is back through Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve comes up about 457 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 515 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Central Balkan - Kozya stena 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.
The route ends here after 685 km.
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 - Kozya stena Reserve is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve → Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve → Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is 114 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak → back through Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve is 115 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Severen Dzhendem Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Kozya stena Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 74 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.