Why this ride
From Rzepedź it runs 305 km to Rzepedź; allow about 5 h 16 of riding. On the way it passes Udava, Havešová Primeval Forest and back through Udava. It crosses from Poland into Slovakia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch and Havešová Primeval Forest
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 305 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 16
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Scenic road chapters
Bieszczady Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 31 km this is Bieszczady Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 31 km
- Named road
- Bieszczady Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
The wooden church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Turzańsk stands on a gentle slope in the foothills of the Bieszczady mountains, in the far southeast of Poland, near the borders with Slovakia and Ukraine, with its onion domes rising above the trees. It was built in the early nineteenth century by the Lemko or Boyko communities, the Ruthenian highlanders who once lived in these mountains, and it is one of the wooden tserkvas of the Polish and Ukrainian Carpathian region listed by UNESCO in 2013. Inside, an iconostasis of painted icons separates the nave from the sanctuary, and the church is still used for Orthodox services.
Read the complete Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch is where the day begins. Next is Udava.
2. Udava
Out where Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine meet, the eastern Carpathians fold into long, rounded ridges covered in beech forest so continuous that from a high point it looks like a green sea. Udava is one of the Slovak pieces of the UNESCO Primeval Beech Forests listing, protected within Poloniny National Park, the most easterly and least populated corner of the country. Here the forest has been left to its own rhythms for a very long time: giant trees, fallen trunks covered in fungi and moss, a dense understory of young growth wherever light breaks through. Wolves, lynx, brown bears and even European bison roam the area, and the dawn chorus in May is unforgettable.
Read the complete Udava write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Udava comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is Havešová Primeval Forest.
3. Havešová Primeval Forest
In the far north-east of Slovakia, in the hills where Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine meet, the beech forests have never been cut. Havešová is one of these primeval forests, a steep slope of giant beech trees, some over forty metres tall and hundreds of years old, with fallen trunks decaying slowly on the forest floor and new trees rising in the gaps. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, inscribed in 2007 and extended since, and it lies within Poloniny National Park, one of the least visited and most remote national parks in Central Europe.
Read the complete Havešová Primeval Forest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 154 km into the recorded legs you reach Havešová Primeval Forest. Next is back through Udava.
4. back through Udava
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Udava write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Udava, late in the day. Next is Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch.
5. Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch to Udava
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch → Udava is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Udava to Havešová Primeval Forest
Udava → Havešová Primeval Forest is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Havešová Primeval Forest to back through Udava
Havešová Primeval Forest → back through Udava is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Udava to Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
back through Udava → Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.