An extreme hiking trail in Bulgaria: Eco trail “Borov Kamak”

Extreme hiking in Bulgaria.

If you are fond of hiking trails “specials” You may have heard of some extreme hiking route found in Spain like the one in: Footbridges over the Mao River, Catwalks of Montfacó, Cahorros de Monachil, Urdón Canal, etc… They are called extreme because the trail has aerial sections over bridges or walkways or sections protected by a railing because they are on the edge of the abyss. Without a doubt, they require not being afraid of heights and possessing an adventurous spirit greater than that necessary to perform the simple hiking routes that are more common..

Eco trail “Borov Kamak”

Eco trail “Borov Kamak”.

Here we present you one of the most unknown extreme routes in Europe but no less exciting than the ones mentioned above, with the advantage that precisely because it is little known it is not yet overcrowded, You will not have to stop to make way for the one who comes in front or wait for your turn to pass through its catwalks, like some of the most frequented and famous.

Also the hiking trail “Pine stone” has the advantage that the landscape remains always green and lush even in the middle of Summer, because it is located within a Natural Park and in an area that maintains humidity throughout the year. In Bulgaria the marked hiking trails are called “ecopathic” which can be translated as eco-trail. This ekopateca has officially the name of “Vratsa eco-pharmacy” although it is also known as the route “Borov Kamak” because the route reaches a waterfall of the same name.

The route starts on the outskirts of the town of Zgorigrad, a small town near the city of Vratsa, capital of the region, an hour and a half north of the city of Sofia. It falls into the category of extreme hiking trails because it uses wooden stairs, catwalks, railings to carry out the route and save the steps above the Vartesthnitza river and ravines, without the help of these elements it would be impossible to reach the waterfall simply by walking. The bridges, walkways and railings that are passed during the hiking trail are all handmade and built with logs and branches of natural wood, no even, well-serrated slats, but rather a mass of branches and trunks that have been used as they were found and joined together by nails. This increases the feeling of adventure because you have to trust that they are well nailed so that they maintain our weight since sometimes they give the feeling of insecurity, but it's just a feeling, after all if they have stood the passage of other people, why not ours? Joking apart, The whole route is safe as long as we have some experience and we are not clumsy because what you do have to know is that it is not a route you can do “anyone”.

At the beginning of the route you will find this explanatory poster, then you walk along a path parallel to the river with a certain slope, this first section seems nondescript and does not give an idea of ​​the adventure that awaits us later. After a few minutes we find the first wooden bridge over the riverbed, We follow the road markings on the stones of the ground and we will find other bridges that make us walk from one side of the river to the other.. At last we reach the most extreme area where we find an almost vertical wooden staircase and walkways that defy the emptiness fixed it is unknown how to the vertical rock. From there the views are spectacular, including the view of our feet on the slats of the catwalk that reveal empty under our feet.

By interspersing flights of stairs and sections on foot, we go up the valley formed by the river “Vartesthnitza” , small waterfalls that form the river follow one another, pools and idyllic scenes that make us stop often to take pictures of the surroundings. In some sections you have to climb stones with the help of your hands, It is not a climb itself but it does require skill and good physical shape, for all this it can be considered an extreme hiking route. It depends on the stops we make but after a few 2 hours of climb we reach the waterfall of “Borov Kamak”, of which I avoid putting a photo here so as not to detract from the expectation of the upload, whoever wants to see it must reach the top, haha…Once at the top we can go back down or take the opportunity to have lunch in a beautiful esplanade that is a little higher than the waterfall and that offers fantastic views of the environment.

If you want we can offer you a hotel trip + rental car with the addition of a practical travel guide in .pdf format that will indicate the location of the places to visit (including this route), Hotels, restaurants and other useful tips for your own way. Contact us and we will make a tailored proposal: Budget request.