Posted on March 9, 2024May 27, 2024 in Waterfalls

Sapareva Banya

Further east towards Samokov, but also on the north side of Rila Mountain, is Rilska Skakavitsa – ‘Rila Waterfall’ – the highest waterfall in Rila at 70 metres. It is situated south of the spa town of Sapareva Banya, very near the famous Seven Rila Lakes, which are further south (the closest lake to the waterfall is the fifth lake, the ‘Kidney’). I have visited this waterfall at different times of year – in thick snow during March, when there were very few people about except snowboarders, and surrounded by lush vegetation in July. They make for very different experiences!

To visit this waterfall, you must take the A3 motorway that connects Sofia and the border with Greece at Kulata. You are going to go as far as Dupnitsa, a distance of 60 kilometres. To reach Dupnitsa, you must leave the motorway six kilometres before the town and follow the old national road into the town itself, past a series of car dealers. 600 metres after entering Dupnitsa, just before the OMV petrol station, turn right (it is signposted for Sapareva Banya). At the bottom, go left under the national road and over a railway. After 300 metres, turn left at the traffic lights (signposted for Samokov and Sapareva Banya), and follow this road along the north side of Rila Mountain.

After 11 kilometres, there is a turning for Sapareva Banya on the right. You will need to go through the town and continue to the resort of Panichishte. After entering the town, go right at the roundabout and follow this road, which then veers left. At the stop sign, take the road diagonally opposite and continue uphill. At another stop sign, turn left. You are now on the road to Panichishte, which is ten kilometres from Sapareva Banya. On entering Panichishte, ignore the hotel signposts pointing left. Continue on the same road, and you will pass a tourist information centre on the left. Keep going for another 3.8 kilometres, until you reach a turning on the right that goes uphill to a place called Zeleni Preslap. You need to park the car here and continue on foot.

The walk is 11.5 kilometres, there and back, and in the snow in March it took us five hours. Factoring in the driving, that meant a day trip from Sofia of nine hours. The elevation gain is 475 metres, and there is quite a steep climb between Zeleni Preslap and Skakavitsa Hut, as you go through the forest, but the waterfall is eerily magical and well worth the effort. Just the fact you are a short distance from the Seven Rila Lakes is enthralling.

After 850 metres, you reach the rest house at Zeleni Preslap. Keep the rest house on your right and take the path that heads due south, to the left of some information boards. Continue on this path, with trees on either side, for 1.5 kilometres, then take the path on the right, signposted for Skakavitsa Hut and Kabul Peak. This path climbs gently at first, then more steeply. After two kilometres, a path on the right diverges to Kabul Peak. Keep left, and in 150 metres you will reach Skakavitsa Hut. The hut is open for refreshments in the summer, but not in March, when the ground is covered in thick snow and the only creatures we came across were a crestfallen guard dog and a large, standing wooden bear. The path to the waterfall is another 1.5 kilometres further south and takes about 40 minutes (in the snow). There are wonderful views of the waterfall and surrounding cliff faces as you approach.

The road from Panichishte continues to Pionerska Hut, where there is a controversial lift that makes it much easier for daytrippers to access the Lakes. Purists, and I’m inclined to agree with them, would say you should do the walk on foot, but no doubt the lift serves a purpose. The name of the mountain, Rila, comes from a Thracian word meaning ‘watery’. You will notice this when you are on the mountain – you often seem to be stepping in water. The Galician word for ‘kidney’ is ril – it seems to me that Rila, the main water divide separating the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea drainage systems, functions as Bulgaria’s kidney, and indeed the waterfall resembles a kidney, as does the glacial lake nearest to it.

The tourist information centre in Panichishte. Continue for another 3.8 kilometres, until you reach the turning for Zeleni Preslap.

The turning for Zeleni Preslap. The signposts are rather confusing, but there is one for Skakavitsa Hut.

After passing the rest house on your right, take the path between the trees heading due south.

After 1.5 kilometres, a path on the right, signposted for Skakavitsa Hut and Kabul Peak, climbs through the forest.

The waterfall is forty minutes further south.

As you approach the waterfall, it is visible on the far left (the dark patch shaped like a kidney!).

The walk to the waterfall, with the Seven Rila Lakes further south.

Posted on June 19, 2023May 27, 2024 in Waterfalls

Zgorigrad

This is an astonishing walk, but it is not for the faint-hearted! To get to the bottom of the waterfall, known as ‘Borov Kamak’ (‘Pine Stone’), it is necessary to climb fourteen ladders, some of which are quite steep, and to cross from side to side of the river Varteshnitsa. We were with a small dog and had to carry him up and down the ladders. Also, in reviews online, a lot of people express their disappointment at the waterfall having no water. We went in the second half of June after heavy rains, and I can say that this was not the case! The waterfall was working at full capacity, and a couple of times, where there was no bridge, it was necessary to wade across the river.

That said, this is one of the most beautiful places I have been to in Bulgaria, and the waterfall is memorable. You get what you put in, I suppose. To reach the old mining village of Zgorigrad, you must first travel to Vratsa. Coming from Mezdra on the E79, you enter the town of Vratsa and keep going straight, following the signs for Ledenika Cave. After three kilometres, you pass the turning on the left for Vratsa Waterfall (directly after the hospital). After another kilometre, ignore the turning right that goes to the centre and follow the sign for Ledenika. In 300 metres, take the turning on the left to Ledenika and Zgorigrad. You leave Vratsa and go through the dramatic Vratsa Pass. After 2.2 kilometres, there is a sign for Ledenika at a distance of thirteen kilometres on the right, but you continue straight and enter Zgorigrad village. Keep going straight, pass through the centre (with the river Varteshnitsa on your right) and, as the road begins to loop, 2.2 kilometres after the centre of Zgorigrad, you come to the start of the ecopath that leads to the waterfall. Park your car on the grassy verge. The river is now on your left.

The walk to the waterfall takes about two hours. If you factor in another hour to visit the top of the waterfall, you will need to allow five hours to go and come back. The ecopath climbs the grassy verge and quickly enters forest. On your left is an old tailings pond, used to store waste material from the extraction of metal ore. This tailings pond caused a terrible flood (almost half a million cubic metres) in 1966, with significant loss of life in the nearby village. There is a short film about the disaster by Robart Nikolchev on YouTube. In about twenty minutes, you cross the first of several bridges taking you from side to side of the river. After the third bridge, we were tempted to go straight, but you must go right, uphill, following the course of the river. If you find yourself moving away from the river at any point, then you have gone wrong. Keep an eye on the red markers.

After the fourth bridge, the ladders start in earnest. There are eight ladders in the space of half an hour. After the fifth bridge, we again went slightly wrong and started moving away from the river. Follow the red markers and stay close to the river. Another three ladders, and then comes the fun part. You are required to cross to the lefthand side of the river, but there is no bridge, presumably because there isn’t normally so much water and it’s possible to hop from rock to rock. In our case, the river was roaring down, and this wasn’t possible! We tried taking off our shoes and socks, but the water was so cold we didn’t get very far! In the end, we just waded across. I carried our dog.

Another fifteen minutes, and you come to the bottom of the waterfall, which is 63 metres high. It’s a wonderful location. If you want to visit the top of the waterfall, you need again to cross the river without the help of a bridge. We again got soaked! But it was worth it. There is a picnic table under the eaves of the rocks on the righthand side of the river. You can stop here for lunch and admire the waterfall. We certainly did.

If you decide to continue the top, you must follow the path in front of you, which soon goes left. You must climb another four ladders to reach the top, but the view is amazing and the sensation of watching the river tumble over the edge is exhilarating. There is a place to stand, with a railing, but please be careful. The river before it cascades over the edge is much calmer. You can continue upstream. Having crossed a bridge, in about twenty minutes you will reach a mountain shelter and an open meadow. This is as far as we got.

Beware that descending the ladders is perhaps more difficult than going up (especially when you are responsible for a small creature!). We had heard that the walk to Vratsa Waterfall is quite steep, but found this walk to be more difficult, albeit more beautiful. ‘Borov Kamak’ easily ranks in my top five, along with waterfalls like Hristo Danovo and Polska Skakavitsa.

The ecopath starts 2.2 kilometres after the centre of Zgorigrad village.

It passes through forest, with the river Varteshnitsa on your left.

There is a wooden walkway with views towards Zgorigrad.

The river Varteshnitsa as it descends through the forest.

The picnic table on the righthand side of the waterfall.

The view from the top of the waterfall towards Zgorigrad.

Posted on May 14, 2023June 1, 2024 in Waterfalls

Vratsa

Vratsa is a town north of Sofia, midway between Sofia and the river Danube. It is famous for its caves (in particular, Ledenika), waterfalls and rock formations. To the south-west of Vratsa is the Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park, established in 1989. This is where Vratsa Waterfall is situated, together with another waterfall, Borov Kamak, which can be accessed from the village of Zgorigrad. It is also where the Bulgarian revolutionary and poet Hristo Botev was killed in 1876, fighting against the Ottomans in an uprising that would be brutally crushed, but would sow the seeds for the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule two years later. Vratsa is also famous for the Rogozen Treasure, the largest haul of Thracian treasure ever found in Bulgaria, dating to the fourth century BC, part of which can be seen in the Regional Historical Museum.

Vratsa is connected to Sofia by railway (for train times, see the Bulgarian State Railways website: https://www.bdz.bg/en). To reach Vratsa from Sofia by car, take the A2 motorway, which connects Sofia with Varna on the Black Sea coast, north-east as far as Botevgrad and then head north-west on the E79 road to Vratsa via Mezdra. The journey takes about two hours. On entering Vratsa, keep going straight and in three kilometres, immediately after passing City Hospital on your left, there is a street, also on your left, called Belasitsa. You need to take this turning. This street continues for 800 metres and then abruptly ends next to an old people’s home, Zora. This is where the path to the waterfall begins (there are several places to park your car).

The walk from here to the bottom of the waterfall takes about an hour, but it is steep and slippery. It is not an easy path. Follow the path and, after a few minutes, there is a large gateway on your left with the words ‘Welcome to Vrachanski Karst’ written on it in Bulgarian. This is the name of the reserve, which forms part of the Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park. Do not be tempted to follow the track that climbs the hill directly in front of you, but go left, over the riverbed and under this gate. The riverbed will now be on your right. After five minutes, you will come to a shelter on your right, an ideal place to rest. The path starts to climb, and in another five or ten minutes you come to some benches and a fountain on your left. The path then crosses the riverbed, which was completely dry when we visited. You need now to follow the blue markers (they are sometimes red), ignoring a level path on the right and heading straight uphill. Bear in mind the elevation gain from the start of the walk to the waterfall is about 300 metres. If you stay on this path and observe the blue markers, you will reach the bottom of the waterfall in half an hour.

At 141 metres, Vratsa Waterfall, also known as ‘Vrachanska Skaklya’, is one of the highest in Bulgaria, but the flow of water is very little. There are some boulders at the bottom, and an enormous rock face. But where Vratsa Waterfall really stands out is with the views! I heartily recommend that you continue to the top of the waterfall, an elevation gain of another 200 metres, which takes about 45 minutes. As you face the waterfall, the path with the blue markers continues on your left (that is, it continues eastwards). Follow the path and, before reaching the top, you will pass a cave on your right, which you can investigate. Once you reach the top, the path heads right through some trees and then comes to a clearing. If you continue in the same direction, skirting the cliff face on your right, in five minutes you will come to the stream that feeds the waterfall. The views – of the waterfall and rock face as you climb; of Vratsa and Dabnika Reservoir in the distance – are spectacular and well worth the extra effort. The descent from the top of the waterfall to the start of the path took us about an hour.

All in all, you need to allow at least four hours for the hike itself. The climb to a large rock face, followed by a further climb to the top of the waterfall, is reminiscent of the visit to Bovska Skaklya north of Svoge, on the other side of the Vratsa Balkan, only this waterfall is higher.

The turning after the hospital, Belasitsa Street, ends next to an old people’s home. The path begins here. The waterfall is the dark patch on the rocks behind.

After a few minutes, turn left and pass through the gateway, which says ‘Welcome to Vrachanski Karst’.

After crossing the riverbed, the path becomes steep.

As we continue to the top, the views of the waterfall and Vratsa are wonderful!

At the top, the path heads through some trees.

In another five minutes, you reach the stream that forms the waterfall.

A view of Vratsa and Dabnika Reservoir from the top of the waterfall.

Posted on February 20, 2022May 27, 2024 in Waterfalls

Ovchartsi

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Bulgaria, Ovchartsi Waterfall is named after a Bulgarian maiden, Goritsa, who lived in the local village and was betrothed to a shepherd called Yovitsa. This was during the time of Turkish slavery, Ottoman rule in Bulgaria during the fourteenth-nineteenth centuries. The Turkish overlord or bey was struck by Goritsa’s beauty (it must have been a slightly terrifying time to be beautiful) and ordered his servants to fetch her for him. Goritsa took to the hills, in search of Yovitsa, who was watching his flocks, but the servants reached her before she could get to him, so she threw herself off the cliff. Ever since then, the waterfall (39 metres) and the river have borne her name.

The waterfall is above the village of Ovchartsi on the northern slopes of Rila Mountain. To get there from Sofia is about an hour and a quarter by car. You take the motorway to Greece (Kulata) and leave the motorway at the signs for Dupnitsa. You actually leave the motorway seven kilometres before Dupnitsa and follow the old road into Dupnitsa, past a succession of second-hand car dealers. On entering Dupnitsa, you take a right just before the OMV petrol station, signposted Sapareva Banya. You then follow this road, ignore a left turn that is signposted Plovdiv and Samokov and continue to the next set of lights, where you turn left for Sapareva Banya and Panichishte. If you take the road for Plovdiv and Samokov, you will have a very picturesque ride alongside the northern slopes of Rila, but you will not be able to reach the villages that nestle on these slopes. This is why you continue to the next set of lights and turn left here. This road takes you through the villages of Samoranovo and Resilovo to Ovchartsi.

In Ovchartsi, head to the central square, where there is a town hall and a children’s playground. Turn right on the near side of the square and go straight up the steep road in front of you, which bears right at the top, leading to a fountain and a place to park. From here, continue on foot. There is an ecopath to the waterfall, and it only takes about fifteen minutes to get there. Admire the view. When we went in February, there was a lot of ice, which made the path very slippery and people were having difficulty going up and down (with the inevitable laughter).

You can also make your way down to the river below the waterfall, but to do this you have to leave the path and climb down a slightly steep slope. Heading upstream, you will come to the lower part of the waterfall, with a wonderful view of the rocks above and trees silhouetted against the light.

Between Resilovo and Ovchartsi is the Resilovo Convent of the Holy Protection. It is a short drive from the road. The nature is beautiful, and the church has stunning frescoes. You can light a candle for your loved ones and enjoy the view back to Sofia!