Tag: Simeonovo Lakes

Posted on in Vitosha

Dragalevtsi Monastery – Aleko Waterfall – Simeonovo Lakes – Dragalevtsi Monastery

Starting Coordinates: 42.61953, 23.29827

Distance: 10.4 km

Elevation Gain: 320 m

Time: 4 hours

Difficulty: Moderate

Transport: by car, or by bus no. 66 to the stop for Dragalevtsi Monastery

  • The start of the walk at the southern corner of the Dragalevtsi Monastery car park.
  • After 50 metres, turn left. Do not go up the mountain!
  • Seven minutes later, the path divides. Keep left.
  • One of the bridges across Dragalevtsi River.
  • The disused Dragalevtsi chair lift.
  • The path is in forest most of the way.
  • The fountain with an icon of St Nicholas.
  • Approaching the rocky outcrop.
  • The rocky outcrop.
  • The view towards Sofia.
  • Aleko Waterfall.
  • In another 2.5 km, you will come to an abandoned shelter. Turn left here for Simeonovo Lakes.
  • Lake no. 1.
  • Lake no. 2.
  • Lake no. 3.
  • Lake no. 4 (or the other way around, depending on where you started).

Two walks start from the car park which is above and behind Dragalevtsi Monastery – the walk to Boyana Lake, and this walk to Simeonovo Lakes. They both follow the low-altitude circular trail that goes around the mountain at more or less the same elevation – that is, without climbing or descending the mountain a great deal. But while Boyana Lake really is a lake, Simeonovo Lakes are not what I would call lakes. They are man-made ponds (we even spotted fish in one of them), but they are still very attractive and a popular picnic spot above the district of Simeonovo.

To reach the car park above/behind Dragalevtsi Monastery, you must access the mountain via Dragalevtsi. If you are travelling by bus no. 66, you will get out at the stop for Dragalevtsi Monastery. By car, leave the central square, drive up the cobbled road in the far corner, ignore the turning left to the “Vodenitsata” restaurant after 1.5 km and continue straight for another 3 km. Here is the bus stop for Dragalevtsi Monastery, and on your left, partially hidden by the trees, is a car park with the monastery behind it. Park here.

Go the southern corner of the car park and take the path that goes up the mountain, but only for 50 metres. Immediately join the path going left. This is the low-altitude circular trail. The monastery is again on your left, and the road is now behind you. This path will take you all the way to Simeonovo Lakes. It will be crisscrossed by other paths going up and down the mountain, by bike trails, by leafy hollows, by dry riverbeds, but don’t be led astray. If you have started climbing or descending more than usual, then you have gone the wrong way. Just stay on the path for 5¼ kilometres. It will take you across Dragalevtsi River, under a disused chair lift, through beautiful beech forest, past a rocky outcrop with a wonderful view of Sofia, past a waterfall, and then deliver you to a picturesque spot with tables in the shade. What more could you possibly ask for?

But, like life, just when you think things are going smoothly, a problem arises. The path divides after seven minutes. You didn’t want a choice, but you’ve been given one and are going to have to make it. Keep left (the path is signposted for Simeonovo and Bistritsa). Do not start to climb! The path on the right, signposted for Momina Skala and Kamen Del, may look level, but don’t be fooled – before you know it, you’ll be going up the mountain!

So keep left, and you will become aware of Dragalevtsi River, a river that features heavily in the walk Bay Krastyo-Kikish, on your left. In a couple of minutes, the path turns a corner, and you cross the river by means of two bridges and a walkway. Keep going on this path, ignoring any turnings on the left or on the right, and in another ten minutes you come to the disused Dragalevtsi chair lift (see the walk Bay Krastyo-Kikish). Keep going straight, and in another fifteen minutes you come to a most welcome fountain and bench. There is normally an icon of the Virgin Mary above the fountain, but this time it was St Nicholas. No matter. The water is very refreshing.

Keep going, ignore the dry riverbeds and bike trails crisscrossing the path, and in twenty minutes you will reach one of my favourite places on the mountain – a rocky outcrop I have been visiting for twenty years. Look left, and you will have a wonderful view of Sofia. You can sit on the rocks on either side of the path and have a rest.

But a surprise awaits you! In another 100 metres, continuing on the same path, is Aleko Waterfall, created by Skakavitsa River. This is one of two popular waterfalls on the mountain (the other is Boyana). You are now about halfway to Simeonovo Lakes and are perfectly entitled to decide you have come far enough and to turn around. Simeonovo Lakes is another 2.5 km from here (45 minutes), so it’s up to you.

If you wish to continue, you just keep going on the same low-altitude circular trail. You will come to a couple of benches – ignore the turnings left and right! Keep going straight (signposted for Bistritsa and Zheleznitsa), and half an hour after the waterfall you will come to an abandoned stone shelter which people use to light barbecues. Behind the shelter is the stream that forms the lakes. Go upstream (that is, turn right), and you will come to Buda, the destination of another walk. You want to go downstream (that is, turn left at the shelter) and follow the course of the stream. It will take you downhill to a total of four lakes. Wooden bridges crisscross the stream. It doesn’t matter which side you are on, as long as you are following the course of the stream. Having enjoyed the view and decided which lake you like best, simply climb back uphill to the stone shelter, turn right here, and take the low-altitude circular trail all the way back to Dragalevtsi Monastery and the car park.

Don’t underestimate the distance, though. This walk is more than ten kilometres, but can easily be shortened by turning back at the waterfall. Of course, Simeonovo Lakes can be approached more directly from Simeonovo itself (bus no. 67).

Posted on in Vitosha

Dragalevtsi Monastery – Boyana Lake – Dragalevtsi Monastery

Starting coordinates: 42.6197196, 23.2976008

Distance: 7.3 km

Elevation Gain: 165 m

Time: 2½ hours

Difficulty: Moderate

Transport: by car, or by bus no. 66 to the stop for Dragalevtsi Monastery

  • The cobbled road with the road to Dragalevtsi Monastery on the left, the car park next to it, and the bus stop on the right (the red sign marks the shared trail to Boyana).
  • The path as it leaves the cobbled road.
  • The large boulder on the path.
  • The impressive forest.
  • The road is clearly visible from the path.
  • The road as it performs its large loop, with Sofia in the background.
  • The fountain next to the first moraine river.
  • The second moraine river.
  • The third moraine river, which has a clear view of Sofia.
  • The stone plinth.
  • This grassy area has a wonderful view of Kopitoto with its distinctive TV tower.
  • The path descends to the lake.
  • Another grassy area has two shelters. People use this area to light barbecues.
  • The lake through the trees.
  • A view from the west side of the lake.
  • A view from the east side.
  • The bus stop for returning to Sofia. The stop (“for Dragalevtsi Monastery”) is marked in red.

This is the first of several walks for which you need to access the mountain via the district/village of Dragalevtsi, south of Sofia. The walk follows the path that links Boyana and Dragalevtsi. It is fairly flat and, were it not for the distance (7.3 km), I would classify it as easy.

Dragalevtsi is famous for the fourteenth-century Dragalevtsi Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God, which can be reached by a cobbled road from the central square. As you are going up this cobbled road, there is a turning on the left marked “Vodenitsata”, a traditional Bulgarian restaurant next to the start of the Dragalevtsi chair lift (no longer running). If you take this turning, you come to a roundabout, where you turn right, and in a short while you come to the monastery gates. Keep on this side road, and you come to a large car park behind the monastery.

If you continue on the cobbled road and do not take the turning to “Vodenitsata”, the road does a big loop and in three kilometres you reach the same car park from the other direction. Park the car here, or alternatively get off bus no. 66 at the stop “for Dragalevtsi Monastery” (the third to last stop on this route, an optional stop, you must inform the driver you want to get off). The monastery is on the other side of the car park, behind the trees. The bus will continue up the mountain in the direction of Aleko, where there is a ski slope and from where you can set out for the summit, Cherni Vrah.

The path to Boyana Lake is a shared trail (for walkers and cyclists) marked “Boyana” which leaves the road almost next to the bus stop. It climbs a little, passes a large and interesting boulder, and then continues in a north-westerly direction more or less on the same level all the way to Boyana Lake (3.5 km away). You pass through beautiful beech forest and cross several moraine rivers (moraines are large glacial boulders and form a common feature of Vitosha). At the first moraine river, after fifteen minutes, there is a fountain on the right. In another fifteen minutes, you come to the third moraine river, from where there is a wonderful view of Sofia. In another fifteen minutes, there is an open grassy area on the right with a stone plinth and an excellent view further west towards Kopitoto (“the Hoof”, where there is a hotel next to the TV tower, both visible from Sofia). It is an ideal spot for a picnic.

At this point, the path begins to descend gently towards the lake. You pass another grassy area on the right, where there are two shelters used for barbecues, and in twenty minutes you reach the lake on your left. From here, the path continues north towards Boyana Village. Another path heads west from the lake in the direction of Boyana Waterfall. You can walk all around the lake. In May, it is full of croaking frogs! If you have a dog, I advise not letting your dog drink the water, since it is pretty stagnant.

Once you’ve enjoyed admiring the lake from different angles, you simply head back up the path you came on and retrace your steps to the cobbled road with the bus stop and the car park. This should take less than an hour.

This walk will easily fit into an afternoon. If you are feeling keen, you can easily combine it with a walk from the same starting point (Dragalevtsi Monastery car park/bus stop), but going in the opposite direction, eastwards towards Aleko Waterfall and Simeonovo Lakes. Both walks skirt the mountain at more or less the same elevation (1000 m). This walk is described in a separate text.