Why this ride
The stops in between: Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy, Ruská Bystrá, Udava and Bodruzal. It crosses Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan and Bodruzal
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 773 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 14 h 49
- 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: 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.
Scenic road chapters
Bieszczady Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 109 km this is Bieszczady Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 109 km
- Named road
- Bieszczady Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan
Just below the pass that carries the road and railway from Uzhhorod into Galicia, the village of Uzhok keeps one of the finest wooden churches of the Carpathians. The tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael was built in the middle of the eighteenth century in the Boyko style, with three log chambers each topped by a tiered roof, rising in stages like a set of stacked hats, all covered in wooden shingles. It stands on a slope among old trees, with a separate bell tower nearby, and it is one of the sixteen wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine listed by UNESCO in 2013.
Read the complete Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan is where the day begins. Next is Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy.
2. 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.
Read the complete Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy comes up about 109 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ruská Bystrá.
3. Ruská Bystrá
Hidden in a fold of the Vihorlat hills near the Ukrainian border, the little village of Ruská Bystrá has a wooden church built in the early eighteenth century, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, with a tower and a roof of wooden shingles and an iconostasis of painted icons inside. It is one of the Greek Catholic churches included in the World Heritage listing of the Wooden Churches of the Slovak Part of the Carpathian Mountain Area, inscribed in 2008, along with Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches across the country.
Read the complete Ruská Bystrá write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 178 km into the recorded legs you reach Ruská Bystrá. Next is Udava.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Bodruzal.
5. Bodružal
Bodružal is a tiny Rusyn village in the far northeast of Slovakia, close to the Polish border, with a few dozen houses scattered along a valley among the forested hills of the Low Beskids. What brings people here is its wooden church of St Nicholas, built in 1658, a three-domed Greek Catholic church with shingled walls and onion-shaped towers stepping up from east to west. It is one of the eight churches in the UNESCO listing of the wooden churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian mountain area, and it is a perfect example of the Lemko style: compact, harmonious and rooted in its landscape. Inside, the iconostasis glows with painted saints.
Read the complete Bodruzal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bodružal sits at 183 km, about halfway. Next is back through Udava.
6. 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 comes up about 468 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ruská Bystrá.
7. back through Ruská Bystrá
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ruská Bystrá write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 595 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ruská Bystrá. Next is back through Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy.
8. back through Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy, late in the day. Next is Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan.
9. Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan 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 773 km.
Leg by leg
Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan to Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy
Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan → Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy is 109 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy to Ruská Bystrá
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy → Ruská Bystrá is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ruská Bystrá to Udava
Ruská Bystrá → Udava is 127 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Udava to Bodruzal
Udava → Bodruzal is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bodružal to back through Udava
Bodružal → back through Udava is 81 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Udava to back through Ruská Bystrá
back through Udava → back through Ruská Bystrá is 127 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ruská Bystrá to back through Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy
back through Ruská Bystrá → back through Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy to Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan
back through Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy → Uzhok-Tserkva of the Synaxis of the Archan is 109 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.