Skopska Crna Gora Ridge Hike from Brodec to Arachinovo

See https://mymacedoniablog.wordpress.com/ for more info about sightseeing and hiking in Macedonia.

This is a very relaxed ridge hike on the Skopska Crna Gora (Skopje’s Black Mountain), almost exclusively on 4x4 roads with excellent views. I think the trail is probably also suitable for mountain biking. The length of the hike is 25 km, with approximately 500 m ascent and 1700 descent. The start is about 27 km or a 45 min drive from the center of Skopje.

I had done several hikes on Skopska Crna Gora before that reached the mountain ridge or some of the peaks, and was intrigued about the 4x4 road that was following the ridge. So I decided to try to follow this 4x4 road from almost the highest point in the north near Brodec (Brodets) to the foot of the mountain range in the south at Arachinovo. With Google Earth I made a digital GPS track to help me navigate on the ground.

Transportation is always a bit complicated with hikes in one direction, and taking a taxi to the start seemed the best solution. The taxi should go to the village Brodec and follow the road further uphill. The start of the hike is bit before the highest peak of the Skopska Crna Gora range, named Ramno. It may be a good idea to get the phone number of the taxi driver and ask him if he can pick you up in Arachinovo later.

I started at 09.00 in the morning end of September 2022 and it unexpectedly was very windy and cold (4 degrees celcius) at the ridge. Right at the start three dogs came running at me, barking. For a moment I thought thet were sheperd dogs that can be quite protective of their sheep. Luckily, they were not and turned out to be very friendly, one of them even walked with me all the way to Arachinovo.

Normally I’m not very charmed by 4x4 roads, but this ridge hike really is something else. The views are excellent almost all the time, and quite diverse as well. And most of the hike is downhill, making it a welcome change from all the climbing that usually comes with long hikes.

There is the option to make this hike a bit more challenging by including some of the peaks along the way, but since I had climbed them previously I restrained myself and stuck to the 4x4 road.

The Crn Kamen peak I had already climbed from two different directions: https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/brodec-crn-kamen-and-przhar-peak-81570143# and https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ljubanci-to-crn-kamen-peak-via-small-waterfall-trail-102567505#, as well the Muratica Peak which I had climbed on another occasion on a hike to the abandoned Monastery of Matejche (https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/viniche-to-monastery-of-matejche-via-muratica-peak-and-chovec-peak-103298335#).

At a certain moment you can see the abandoned Monastery of Matejche on your left, which is another possible detour (see link above).

I only met a few people along the trail, most of them were harvesting potatoes from the fields. And there were some big trucks and tractors with freshly cut wood that used the 4x4 road.

Only the last few kilometers that zig-zag down to Arachinovo are on a bit less attractive wide stony road. But I spotted a fox over there so that was cool again.

I planned to get some dog food for the friendly dog that had kept me company for the entire hike once we would arrive in Arachinovo, but unfortunately he got scared off by some big barking local dogs at the entrance of Arachinovo (luckily they were behind a fence).

In Arachinovo I tried to visit the church of St Talalej (St Thalelaeus) but it was completely fenced off and closed, probably this church is not in use anymore because Arachinovo is predominantly a Muslim village.

There were taxis waiting on the square at the end of this hike. The first one asked more than double the price that would be reasonable and he was annoyingly persistent. So I went to one of his colleagues who offered a more reasonable price to take me back home. I am not sure if these were licensed taxis. If you want to avoid getting ripped off, maybe arrange a pick-up in Arachinovo for a fixed price with the taxi who took you to the start. Then at least you have a starting point to bargain with the local taxis.

I enjoyed this hike very much, also because it was a try-out since I could not find another GPS track that described this route, especially not the last part to Arachinovo. It all worked out pretty well and the hike gets 5 out of 5 starts from me.