Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch and Rožok

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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. 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 94 km into the recorded legs. Next is Havešová Primeval Forest.

3. 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 177 km into the recorded legs you reach Havešová Primeval Forest. Next is Vihorlat.

4. 4. Vihorlat

   Vihorlat is a range of old volcanoes in the far east of Slovakia, close to the Ukrainian border, and its higher slopes are covered with some of the last primeval beech forests in Europe. The trees here have grown, died and rotted without human interference for a very long time, and the forest is part of the transnational UNESCO site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, first listed in 2007 with sites in Slovakia and Ukraine and later extended across much of the continent.

   Read the complete Vihorlat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Vihorlat, about halfway. Next is Rožok.

5. 5. Rožok

   Rožok is a small patch of very old forest on the eastern edge of Slovakia, close to the borders with Poland and Ukraine, and it is one of the components of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a World Heritage Site that stretches across many countries. Here, on a steep slope above the Starina reservoir, beech trees have grown undisturbed for centuries, some of them huge, with smooth grey trunks and wide canopies, and fallen trees lie rotting on the forest floor, feeding fungi, insects and birds.

   Read the complete Rožok write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Rožok sits at 329 km, about halfway. Next is back through Vihorlat.

6. 6. back through Vihorlat

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Vihorlat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Vihorlat comes up about 417 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Havešová Primeval Forest.

7. 7. back through Havešová Primeval Forest

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   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 481 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Havešová Primeval Forest. Next is back through Udava.

8. 8. 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.

9. 9. 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

   The route ends here after 655 km.