General directions:
Two-day route with the Imperial Eagle Information Centre in Topolovgrad as both the starting and finishing point and 1 overnight stay in the village of Balgarska Polyana. The idea is for the group to be left in Topolovgrad, while a driver transports the luggage by car to Balgarska Polyana. There is an overnight stay there. The next day, the driver meets the group again in Topolovgrad.
Description by day:
Day 1
The route starts at the Imperial Eagle Information Centre in Topolovgrad. It passes through the town, climbing south towards a small pine forest, crosses a third-class asphalt road and joins the forest road. Parallel to this forest road on the right are the remains of an old Roman road, not designated or cleared, but visible.
This dirt road initially runs parallel to the main asphalt road, then turns left in a south-southeasterly direction. After 10.5 km it reaches the village of Sakartsi and passes through it. After another 6 km it reaches a small reservoir and the village of Hlyabovo. It passes by the village, goes past another small reservoir, crosses the ravine (the small Sokolitza River) and reaches the Nochevi Chaïri dolmen.
After the dolmen, it gradually climbs along the road to the village of Balgarska Polyana, where you can stay in Vlad’s guest houses. There is a shop and a pub in the village.
Total duration for the day – 24.3 km.
Elevation gain +604 m.
Day 2
From the village of Balgarska Polyana, take a forest dirt road that climbs gently and then runs almost horizontally for about 2 km to a small reservoir. After the reservoir, an old gravel forest road begins an 8-kilometre climb from 420 to 760 metres above sea level. The route runs through a forest, is shaded and beautiful, and is covered with tracks of deer, roe deer, wild boar, foxes and badgers.
From the turn-off for Vishegrad, it begins a gentle descent back towards Topolovgrad along a third-class, lightly trafficked asphalt road, passing the sights Pisan Kamak and Meraka Shelter.
Some of the more interesting birds you can observe in the area in spring are European honey buzzard, subalpine warbler, cinereous vulture, lesser kestrel and Eurasian hobby.
Total duration for the day – 27.4 km.
Elevation gain +557 m.
Accents
Duration – day 1 – 4 hours, day 2 – 5 hours.
More advanced cyclists can also do it in one day.
The route is 50% on dirt roads and 50% on asphalt roads.
Water – bring your own. Especially on day 2, there is nowhere to get water, and the climb is long, so in warm weather bring at least 2 litres of water. On day 1, water can be purchased in Sakartsi and Hlyabovo.
The road from Hlyabovo to Balgarska Polyana is part of the national road network, well maintained and not very busy, but heavy goods vehicles also travel along it. There is no bicycle lane. In this section, wearing a reflective vest is recommended.
