Montes Balcanes: (Stara Planina): Kalofer - Botev - Karlovo
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 30.56 mi
- Elevation gain
- 10,591 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 11,667 ft
- Max elevation
- 7,808 ft
- TrailRank
- 49
- Min elevation
- 1,317 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- one day 6 hours 19 minutes
- Coordinates
- 5694
- Uploaded
- October 20, 2016
- Recorded
- October 2016
near Kalofer, Пловдив (България)
Viewed 3334 times, downloaded 65 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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Two-day route through the mountain range of the Balkans ascending to its highest peak, the Botev peak.
Day1: In the morning from Kalofer to the Rai Refuge.
The first 5 kilometers are by road that can be avoided if you have a vehicle, in our case we walked, in just one hour, enjoying the autumn tonalities of the forest.
After 5kms, after passing a hotel and some houses, you leave the road on a path to the left that crosses the stream and goes up to reach a hill that runs north to the Golyama Bazovitsa ravine.
From here a path enters the beech forest and, losing a bit of height, it advances until it crosses the ravine and then climbs 300m of altitude to reach the Ray Refuge.
Day 1: Afternoon: Ascent to Botev Peak
From El Refugio Ray continues the path marked with blue signs towards the west, crossing the base of the rocky outcrops. When you get to a ravine, you fork up the ramp to the right to approach the highest waterfall in Bulgaria. On the left path, a hundred meters further on, another fork to the right leads to Pico Botev passing through a stretch of spectacular ledges
Day2: From Refugio Ray to Karlovo
The first kilometers, are in soft rise until reaching a pass that already gives step to the Valley that ends at Karlovo. and we will travel in all its length passing through three refuges: Vasil Lavski, Balkanski Rozi and Hubavets,
The route has no difficulty, considering that in the climb to Botev there are some steps, both aerial and sections equipped with a safety cable, but climbing in a single day from Kalofer to Botev, is quite hard. The second day may also be tired and if you have time it may be more advisable to do the whole trip in three days.
Day1: In the morning from Kalofer to the Rai Refuge.
The first 5 kilometers are by road that can be avoided if you have a vehicle, in our case we walked, in just one hour, enjoying the autumn tonalities of the forest.
After 5kms, after passing a hotel and some houses, you leave the road on a path to the left that crosses the stream and goes up to reach a hill that runs north to the Golyama Bazovitsa ravine.
From here a path enters the beech forest and, losing a bit of height, it advances until it crosses the ravine and then climbs 300m of altitude to reach the Ray Refuge.
Day 1: Afternoon: Ascent to Botev Peak
From El Refugio Ray continues the path marked with blue signs towards the west, crossing the base of the rocky outcrops. When you get to a ravine, you fork up the ramp to the right to approach the highest waterfall in Bulgaria. On the left path, a hundred meters further on, another fork to the right leads to Pico Botev passing through a stretch of spectacular ledges
Day2: From Refugio Ray to Karlovo
The first kilometers, are in soft rise until reaching a pass that already gives step to the Valley that ends at Karlovo. and we will travel in all its length passing through three refuges: Vasil Lavski, Balkanski Rozi and Hubavets,
The route has no difficulty, considering that in the climb to Botev there are some steps, both aerial and sections equipped with a safety cable, but climbing in a single day from Kalofer to Botev, is quite hard. The second day may also be tired and if you have time it may be more advisable to do the whole trip in three days.
Waypoints
Summit
Mountain pass
6,135 ft
Cruce puerto
Path
Train stop
Mountain hut
3,537 ft
Refugio BALKANSKI ROZI
H.BALKANSKI ROZI
Waypoint
1,407 ft
KARLOVO
KARLOVO
Picnic
Bridge
4,006 ft
Puente
Picnic
Waterfall
Fountain
3,117 ft
Fuente
Comments (2)
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Is the route clearly marked ?
I did it 6 years ago. So it was pretty easy to follow. I don't remember if there were a lot of marks and signals, but if you have a map and you're used to the map, you shouldn't have a problem.