Why this ride
442 km from Snina to Snina, about 8 h 30 of riding. On the way it passes Rožok, Ruská Bystrá, Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy and back through Ruská Bystrá. It crosses Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Vihorlat and Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 442 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 30
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Rožok.
2. 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 comes up about 93 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 152 km into the recorded legs you reach Ruská Bystrá. Next is Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Ruská Bystrá.
5. 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
back through Ruská Bystrá sits at 127 km, about halfway. Next is back through Rožok.
6. back through Rožok
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Rožok comes up about 350 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vihorlat.
7. 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
Vihorlat closes the day.
Leg by leg
Vihorlat to Rožok
Vihorlat → Rožok is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rožok to Ruská Bystrá
Rožok → Ruská Bystrá is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ruská Bystrá to Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy
Ruská Bystrá → Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy to back through Ruská Bystrá
Stužica - Bukovské Vrchy → back through Ruská Bystrá is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ruská Bystrá to back through Rožok
back through Ruská Bystrá → back through Rožok is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rožok to Vihorlat
back through Rožok → Vihorlat is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.