Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy and Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
278 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 50
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
The stops in between: Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless, Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka and back through Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Poland into Ukraine - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy
At the very eastern tip of Slovakia, where the borders of Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine meet on the summit of Kremenec, lies a forest that has been left to itself for longer than anyone remembers. Stužica, in the Poloniny National Park, is one of the most valuable fragments of primeval beech forest in Europe, with trees several hundred years old, fallen trunks rotting slowly on the ground, and an extraordinary richness of fungi, insects and birds. It is part of the UNESCO site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a transnational listing that started with forests in Slovakia and Ukraine.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy is where the day begins. Next is Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless.
2. Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless
Matkiv is a small village in the upper valley of the Stryi river, in the Turka district of the Lviv region, high in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Its wooden church, the tserkva of the Synaxis of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was built in the first half of the nineteenth century, and it is a fine example of the Boyko tradition, named after the highland people who have lived in these mountains for centuries. The church has three log frames topped by tiered pyramidal roofs, each level slightly smaller than the one below, and the whole building is covered in wooden shingles that have weathered to a silver grey. It is part of the UNESCO listing of wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless comes up 66 km in. Next is Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka.
3. Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka
Transcarpathia is the tucked-away corner of Ukraine, on the far side of the mountains from the rest of the country, and it feels like it. The region, known in Ukrainian as Zakarpattia, was part of Hungary for a thousand years, and later of Czechoslovakia, before the Soviet Union took it in 1945, so the villages mix Ukrainian, Hungarian, Romanian and Rusyn traditions. The Zacharovanyi Krai, the Enchanted Land, is a nature park in the hills near the town of Irshava, a country of beech and oak forest, orchards, and folds of low mountains on the edge of the Carpathian foothills.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy to Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy → Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless to Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka
Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless → Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka to back through Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless
Zacharovanyi Krai - Irshavka → back through Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless to Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy
back through Matkiv-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Bless → Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.