Wolosatka stream valley and Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve starting at Turka
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
366 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 54
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.
On the way it passes Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch, Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve and back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch. It crosses from Poland into Slovakia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It follows river valleys.
Scenic road chapters
Bieszczady Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 82 km this is Bieszczady Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
82 km
Named road
Bieszczady Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Wolosatka stream valley
The Wołosatka is a mountain stream in the far south-eastern corner of Poland, draining the slopes below Tarnica, at 1,346 metres the highest summit of the Polish Bieszczady. Its valley is part of Bieszczady National Park and of the World Heritage listing of primeval Carpathian beech forests: dark, mossy woods of beech and fir where dead trunks are left to fall and rot, and where bears, wolves, lynx and wildcats still move freely. Above the treeline the ridges open into the połoniny, high grass meadows that turn tawny in autumn and give the range its rolling, almost Scottish silhouette.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wolosatka stream valley is where the day begins. Next is Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve.
3. Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve
Bardejov's main square is a long, gently sloping rectangle lined with Gothic and Renaissance burgher houses, their tall gables painted in pastel colours, with the Gothic Basilica of St Giles at the top and the old town hall standing alone in the middle. The town grew rich in the Middle Ages on trade between Hungary and Poland, and its walls, bastions and moat largely survive. Bardejov was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2000, along with its Jewish suburb, with a synagogue and ritual bath from the eighteenth century, a reminder of the community that lived here until the Holocaust.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Wolosatka stream valley. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Wolosatka stream valley to Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
Wolosatka stream valley → Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch to Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch → Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve to back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve → back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch to Wolosatka stream valley
back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch → Wolosatka stream valley is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.