Tag: Chuypetlovo

Posted on in Vitosha

Yarlovo – Golemiya Rid Peak – Yarlovo

Starting Coordinates: 42.46882, 23.27801

Distance: 13.2 km

Elevation Gain: 405 m

Time: 4½ hours

Difficulty: moderate-hard

Transport: by car, or by bus no. 69 just past Zheleznitsa (this still leaves a significant distance)

  • The turning right to Yarlovo in Kovachevtsi.
  • The main square in Yarlovo.
  • The street heading north-west in the direction of Cherni Vrah via Golemiya Rid.
  • The track as it crosses the river Palakaria.
  • The track now continues on the west bank of the Palakaria.
  • After fifteen minutes, the path divides. Go left here.
  • The path through the forest.
  • At post 158, go right in the direction of Cherni Vrah.
  • After twenty minutes, the path divides. Go left here.
  • View north from Golemiya Rid of Cherni Vrah and Yarlovski Kupen.
  • View south of Yarlovo and Rila in the distance.
  • Half an hour after the peak, you will come to a crossroads. Go straight in the direction of Klisura.
  • The view back towards Cherni Vrah and Yarlovski Kupen.
  • At the T-junction, go left to return to Yarlovo.
  • The tarmacked road back to Yarlovo.
  • The village as it appears.
  • Where we were welcomed by some donkeys.
  • The bridge over the river Palakaria.
  • The river Palakaria in Yarlovo.

Yarlovo is the other most distant village you can reach on the south side of Vitosha, together with Chuypetlovo, the difference being that you come at them from different directions. To reach Chuypetlovo, you go west around the mountain. To reach Yarlovo, you go east, via Bistritsa and Zheleznitsa. The two villages are actually in adjoining valleys – Chuypetlovo in the Struma valley, Yarlovo in the Palakaria valley – so visiting both villages is like putting your arms around the mountain from both sides, a fitting way to bring this book to a conclusion.

Yarlovo is again about fifty kilometres from central Sofia, an hour’s drive. You pass through Bistritsa, Zheleznitsa, the villa zone known as Yarema, until you reach Kovachevtsi. From Bistritsa to Kovachevtsi is 22 kilometres. Shortly after entering Kovachevtsi, there is a turning on the right for Yarlovo, 5 km. The furthest you can get with public transport is bus no. 69, which takes you just past Zheleznitsa, but that still leaves a significant distance to Yarlovo (about 17 km).

On entering Yarlovo, the road veers to the right, goes past a playground on the right and then heads left into the main square, where there is a Church of St Nedelya, the town hall, a post office and various amenities. Park here. This walk will take you along the course of the Palakaria, up onto the ridge between Yarlovo and Chuypetlovo to the peak Golemiya Rid (with wonderful views north to Cherni Vrah and south to Rila) and back around to Yarlovo. So you leave the main square in the north-west corner and return via the south-west corner.

Take the street that leaves the square in the north-west corner (to the west of the church). It is signposted for Smilyo shelter, Chuypetlovo village and Cherni Vrah via Golemiya Rid. The river Palakaria is flowing on your left. You will pass two bridges going over the river on your left, but just keep going on this street. In half an hour, after the tarmac ends and the road turns into a dirt track, it crosses the river, where there is a pretty waterfall. On the other side of the river, the track begins to climb and turns right (left will take you back into Yarlovo). In fifteen minutes, you will cross a small tributary of the Palakaria, and immediately the path divides. Right will take you along the course of the river. You want to go left, up the mountain. Now stay on this path (with the black and yellow posts), ignore the turning on the left that appears immediately. The path divides and then comes back together (it doesn’t matter which branch you take) and in little more than ten minutes it emerges into the open.

Another ten minutes, and you will reach post number 158. A path on the left will take you to Smilyo, Chuypetlovo and Bosnek. Go right here, in the direction of Cherni Vrah. You will pass a farm outbuilding on the left and then a small house. Follow this path for twenty minutes. It then divides. The right branch will continue taking you in the direction of Cherni Vrah, the summit, but we are going to go left here, in the direction of Golemiya Rid peak. 200 metres after this left turning, there is a path through the grass on the left. In ten minutes (500 metres), this path will take you to the peak, which is a good place to stop for rest and refreshment. Halfway there, a path diverges on the left – ignore it, and in no time at all you will be at the peak. North of here is Cherni Vrah. To the right of Cherni Vrah is Yarlovski Kupen, the main peak at the head of the Palakaria valley. North-west is the village of Chuypetlovo, which featured in our previous walk. And south-east is Yarlovo and the mysterious peaks of Rila, the highest point in the Balkans, in the distance.

Once you have had time to enjoy the views, return to the path you were on and continue left. In about twenty minutes, you will reach a clear crossroads with a picnic area on the right. The left branch will take you to post number 158 and the farm outbuilding, from where you can return directly to Yarlovo. The right branch takes you down to the road just before Chuypetlovo. Keep straight, in the direction of Klisura village. After a hundred metres, ignore the turnings on the right and stay on the path you are on. In half an hour, it divides (the right branch goes to a “cheshma” or fountain). Keep left here, and in five minutes you will come to a T-junction. The right branch goes to Klisura. You want to head left, back to Yarlovo three kilometres away. The road is now tarmacked.

When you reach the first houses in Yarlovo, there is a dirt track on the right, which soon becomes tarmacked as it enters the village, running alongside the river Palakaria on your left. After ten minutes (800 metres), cross the bridge on your left and in five minutes you will enter the main square from the south-west.

Please note: it is easily possible to shorten this walk in two ways. The first is to take the left turning at post 158 and to walk in the direction of Chuypetlovo, not Cherni Vrah. This will omit the peak Golemiya Rid. When you get to the crossroads, take the left turning for Klisura village and continue as per the description. Alternatively, having climbed the peak, when you reach the crossroads, instead of continuing in the direction of Klisura village, turn left here for Yarlovo. You will return to post 158, where you can turn right and descend into the village the way you climbed up. Both options will reduce the walk by several kilometres.

A map of the walk in relation to the whole mountain, with the outskirts of Sofia visible in the top right-hand corner:

Posted on in Vitosha

Chuypetlovo – Struma River – Chuypetlovo

Starting Coordinates: 42.51695, 23.24386

Distance: 9.6 km

Elevation Gain: 350 m

Time: 3½ hours

Difficulty: moderate

Transport: by car

  • 300 metres after the sign for Chuypetlovo, the road ends at a green building and a fountain.
  • Take the shared trail heading north out of the village, with the river on your left.
  • The trail leaving the village.
  • Moraines to the left of the path.
  • The bridge over the river Struma.
  • The river Struma heading south.
  • The path climbing through beech and birch forest.
  • And emerging onto an open area of tall grass.
  • Be careful! The path divides, with the right branch going to Kladnitsa. You want the left branch.
  • A tree in the grass.
  • The path heads south towards a hill, behind which is Bosnek.
  • A wild deer.
  • Before the hill, go left (at post 11 or 12, it doesn’t matter).
  • The view back towards the summit.
  • The path descends back into the village.
  • And passes the Church of St Petka.
  • In a couple of minutes, a turning on the left takes you back to the square where you started.

Chuypetlovo is the first village on the course of the river Struma as it heads south from its source at the peak, Cherni Vrah, to flow into the Aegean in northern Greece. This alone makes it very special. It also offers wonderful views of the summit, but from the other side – the south side of the mountain. Conversely, this means that this little village can be seen from the summit if you head to the rocks a little south of Cherni Vrah hut.

The only way to get to Chuypetlovo, really, is by car. It takes about an hour from Sofia, and the distance is about fifty kilometres. You take the road from Sofia to Pernik. When you reach the large roundabout before Pernik, go left on the A3 motorway in the direction of Greece (Kulata). You travel south on the motorway for twelve kilometres, going past Studena. You then turn off the motorway at the sign for Bosnek (the village before Chuypetlovo), go under the motorway, turn left and follow this road for another thirteen kilometres. As you go through Bosnek, there is a dink in the road – it veers left and then right – but as long as you stay on this road, you won’t get lost. 300 metres after the sign for Chuypetlovo, the road ends at a green building and a fountain. Park the car here.

You are now going to walk up the east side of the river Struma and return to the village along the west side, so you want to take the shared trail to the left of the green building, a sort of continuation of the road you were on, but now a dirt track signposted for Chuypetlovo 1 and Kladnitsa. Follow this trail out of the village, with the river on your left (even if you can’t see it, the river should be on your left). In ten minutes, you will leave the village through trees, and in another ten minutes you will come out into the open, with moraines scattered to the left of the path. Keep heading north basically, and in another twenty minutes you will reach a bridge over the Struma. This is a perfect place to have a picnic and to enjoy the river’s company since you’re not going to see much more of it until you come back into the village.

Having taken your rest, cross the bridge. The path continues on your left and then heads north as it climbs. After twenty minutes of walking through forest, you come out onto an open area of tall grass with fantastic views towards the summit on your right and a succession of lower hills on your left. After ten minutes, a path joins from the right and then leaves on the left. You can ignore it. After another five minutes, the path you are on divides (there is a sign “Chuypetlovo Village Horse ride” pointing back the way you came). You must be careful here because if you go right (north-west), you will end up in the village of Kladnitsa. Go left (south-west).

After ten minutes, a path goes over the hill on your right. Ignore it. At the black and yellow post 4, a path joins from the right. Just before post 6, a path diverges on the right. Ignore these turnings. Five minutes after post 6, a path diverges on the left. Keep going right, that is due south, and in ten minutes a hill will appear in front of you. The path you are on goes over this hill, in the direction of Bosnek. You must take the path on your left to return to Chuypetlovo, that is at post 11 or 12 (it doesn’t matter which, 11 is a shortcut, 12 is a right angle), towards the trees to the left of the hill. You should now be heading south-east.

This path offers wonderful views of the summit and the radar station on top (which looks like a golf ball). After twenty minutes, it begins to descend and soon enters forest. Another ten minutes, and you are back in the village. You pass the Church of St Petka on a rise to the left of the path and then cross the Struma once again. Immediately after this crossing, there is a sign for Yarlovo and Bosnek going straight. Turn left here, and in no time at all you will be back at the square where you started.

This walk offers a valuable opportunity to see the Struma in its infancy. It also gives you a different perspective on the mountain (in particular, Cherni Vrah, the summit). These two factors, for me, make it one of the nicest walks on the mountain. We even saw a wild deer, and that has only happened to me on the mountain twice in twenty years (the other time was at Kominite)!