Walking tours

View toward Golyam and Malak Persenk peaks

Walking tours

• Chepelare Izgrev Chalet Gluhite Kamani (The Deaf Stones) Chudnite Mostove (The Wonderful Bridges)

The road starts in Chepelare from the bridge in the lower (northern) part of the town, along the street that leads to the Sivkovska neighborhood. Then the neighborhood is to be crosses to the north direction and after about 15 minutes away from the bridge the end of the town is reached. There is no marking up to the present moment, but there is only one small rhomb, which marks the beginning of the bicycle route. It is only outside the town where an occasional blue marking to Izgrev begins. This marking follows the road and the valley of Sivkovska River to the west direction. The road is asphalt in the beginning, passes through a fountain, as there is almost no slope.

The road, in about 2.5 km (45 minutes) from the end of the town, becomes black as the climbing continues. A road fork in a ravine is reached. A bicycle route continues to the left, and the pedestrian route to Izgrev is to the right along the ravine, along a cart-way. Then there is a sharp turn to the right, immediately followed by a climb. In about 1 hour away from Chepelare, without any markings along the road itself, the pathway diverts to the left, as a steep climb starts here, cutting through turns. The road appears again in about 8-10 minutes (600 meters) and after walking for a while along it, to the left, a road fork is reached. The pathway is in the middle between the two road forks. At first sight the place resembles a precipice washed away by the water, and the marked tree is cut. The steep climb is about 15 minutes (1 1/2 hours away from Chepelare). After this the path suddenly turns to the left and becomes almost horizontal. The marking is almost invisible to the direction of the climb, but there are signboards, marking the descent (a standpoint from the opposite direction must be found). The route continues climbing lightly along the slope, but is covered up at some places or destroyed by timber activity. The marking is still almost invisible, but the road-bed for walking is clearly outlined in the forest. In about 15 minutes the route leads to the cart-way once again and continues to the left alone it. The visitors should walk along it for a while, cross a ravine until they reach a road fork. The newer cart-way remains on the left side, and the route continues to the right along an older and overgrown road, along which the marking can be seen as well.

Then the route reaches broad glades (2 1/2 away from Chepelare). It is comparatively difficult to take ones bearings in the glades, but their climbing is almost over. The path crosses perpendicularly a big black road, climbing to the left. After this the route passes by a house (which remains to the right) until it reaches a road again. The visitors should walk along this road for about 100-150 meters forward (to the east and north-east direction), as the road crosses a small, shallow ravine. The marking is at rare intervals. The two transmission lines, which are almost parallel and built along the two road sides, can be used as a reference point. After the small, shallow ravine, the road suddenly turns to the right, and the pathway branches off to the left of it and starts climbing once again in the north direction. There is a very good marking only in the end of the forest, in about 100 meters upwards. The route enters a thin old forest along a tangle of paths with or without marking. Then the Izgrev Chalet (1711 meters in altitude, 3 hours away from Chepelare) is reached in about 25 minutes away from the house in the beginning of the glades.

The route continues from the Izgrev Chalet to the north-west, along a wide road, as the marking here is red in colour. The road lightly climbs across the forest, until a glade is reached in about 30 minutes of walking. A path to the Studenets Chalet and Pamporovo with red marking forks to the left, as there is a view to Mursalitsa and Perelishki part. The route to the Persenk Chalet continues to the right, along the road, which gradually turns to the north, surrounding the upland of the ridge from the north. A smaller road, which is often ignored, forks in about another 30 minutes to the left from the main road. The main road leads to wide glades (the locality of Gyola), as there is a nice fountain at their far end, next to the road (1 hour away from the Izgrev Chalet, 4 hours from Chepelare). The route continues from the fountain to the north along the road, which has almost no slope, and enters once again in the forest, passes along another fountain (recently restored) and leads to another glade. After passing this second glade, the black road turns to the left and starts losing its height. A smaller black road branched off here. The branch is marked but the visitors should be careful not to miss it. Then the route continues along a smaller black road to the right, which steeply climbs by few turns of the Mechkarski Peak (Aidarski Kamak) that is about 1850 meters in height. There is a small glade at the peak and an old triangle marking signboard. The road continues as a wide pathway, which turns to the right and continues in an almost horizontal direction by consecutively crossing few small glades. After this the route once again continues to the north and lightly descends into the locality of Gluhite Kamani (The Deaf Stones) in about 15 minutes from the peak (2 1/2 hours away from the Izgrev Chalet and 5 1/2 hours from Chepelare).

Gluhite Kamani (The Deaf Stones) are two big rhyolite rocks, which look like if they were fixed into the glade by an invisible hand. A small table for rest and a fireplace are made near them. The locality is an important road fork the red marking to the Persenk Chalet continues straight along the ridge, of a common direction to the north. The path to the Skalni Mostove (Rock Bridges) Chalet and Chudnite Mostove (The Wonderful Bridges) forks to the right, marked in green colour. This path passes the ridge and starts descending with a normal slope in the north-east direction. The pathway crosses several times a new cart-road, which may be quite muddy. The path is well marked, but the visitors should pay attention because it is easy to mistake the green colour with the green forest, and some marked trees are cut off. In about ten minutes away from Gluhite Kamani, the path continues for a while along a forest road. Then the route enters a young and thick coniferous forest, which is at the place of the old cut-off forest, until the road once again becomes a path. It continues in an almost horizontal direction. When the path starts descending once again, the visitors should be careful because in about 400 meters the marking turns suddenly left, leaving the nice pathway. There is a marking from bottom to top, so the visitors may turn on the way back and look for the marking for the way back. The path actually leads once again to the old forest to the north of the wood-cutting area, where the path is also well formed and marked. In another 400 meters a forest road is to be crosses, as the marking there is once again placed only for the visitors who are to climb. Then a new sharp turn follows and the slope almost disappears. The route continues in the forest and in about 10 minutes an old cart-road in a ravine is reached. The ravine is to be crosses and the visitors should follow the road. The road changes its direction from north to east with a slight descent. In about 20 minutes it leads to a much bigger forest road. The visitors should turn to the right. Then there is a descent which leads to the Skalni Mostove Chalet in about 30 minutes (1586 meters in altitude, 1 hour and 20 minutes away from Gluhite Kamani, and 7 hours from Chepelare).

The route continues to the right of the Skalni Mostove Chalet, down along the asphalt road to Sinite Hancheta (The Small Blue Inns) and to the village of Zabardo. The road after a few twists reaches Chudnite Mostove and the old chalet Chudnite Mostove, located next to Golemiya Most (The Big Bridge) (800 meters away from the Skalni Mostove Chalet). A short marked path crosses the turns at few more places and in about 15 minutes leads to Golemiya Most (7 hours and 20 minutes from Chepelare).

• Chudnite Mostove (Skalni Mostove Chalet - Rock Bridges Chalet) Kabata Chalet (Slanchevi Polyani Sunny Glades) village of Orehovo

The route starts from Chudnite Mostove (the Wonderful Bridges) along the recently asphalted road to the Skalni Mostove Chalet (Rock Bridges Chalet). In about 15 minutes this road leads to a wide glade in front of the chalet, which is transformed into a parking lot. The short pathway, marked with blue colour and crossing the wider road turns, may be used as well.

The visitors should then go from the Skalni Mostove Chalet (1586 meters in altitude) to the right (east) along a wide forest road. The marking (of blue colour) can be seen at some place, but its not necessary because the road leads directly to Kabata Chalet. In the beginning the road slightly climbs up. In about 30 minutes a glade with a forest house and a gathering place for hunters is reached. There is a road fork here the wife forest road turns back at the far end of the glade. The route continues straight forward for the Kabata Chalet, along a black cart-road. The slope gradually disappears, and the route passes near a glade where a destroyed cowshed may be seen to the right. Then, after a slight climb, the visitors will reach the ridge of the hill (45 minutes from the Skalni Mostove Chalet, and 1 hour away from Chudnite Mostove). The road is divided into three at this place the left fork is the best outlined one, the middle fork disappears in the forest, and there is a marking alone the right fork. The visitors may go along any of the roads because they will unit once again after about 1 hour, and the forest they cross is thin and each visitor can walk straight on the grass. Then the route turns slightly to the left and reaches the Kabata Chalet (1656 meters in altitude, 1 hour and 20 minutes away from Chudnite Mostove).

There is an important, but not well outlined and marked crossing just after the chalet. The route enters into the forest in the east direction, near the transmission line, and for about 15 minutes climbs along a steep pathway without any marking to the Tsirkova Tsarkva Chapel (1738 meters in altitude), as there is a fine scenic view to the valley of Chaya River, Chernatitsa and Radyuva Mountain. Then, to the north-east, along a black road there is a marking in blue colour to the village of Malevo and the village of Hvoina. The road crosses the abandoned buildings of the former school camp, called Slanchevi Polyani (Sunny Glades), then makes its way once again into the forest and is directed to the east, following a forest road.

The visitors should take the road to the left in order to reach the village of Orehovo. In the beginning they should follow the blue marking, pass the chalet, as well as all abandoned buildings, and then stop following this blue marking. After this they should make a wide round through the meadows and come out under the Kabata Chalet by an almost opposite turn. The road is slightly marked on the meadows, but becomes clearer while going into the forests. There is a fountain to the left of the meadows, just before the road goes into the forest. Then the forest is to be followed in a general north-west direction, as there is a slight descent and many turns. There is a green marking only at some places here. A very wide road remains to the right side, as well as a deep ravine the valley of the Koyvski Dol River. The road follows the south-west slopes of the ravine. In about 15 minutes from the Kabata Chalet there are two sharp road turns following one another, through which a huge displacement is overcome, and crossed by short pathways. The first, upper path is shorter and clearly marked. The marking of the second path is missing, but the visitors will see the signboards once they start walking along it. After reaching the second short path, the visitors should keep on walking for a while along the road almost in a northern direction. There are scenic views to the north and to the east, revealing Koilovski Ravine, the valley of Oreshitsa River and the two villages Hvoina and Malevo. The slope here is very little. There is a small chapel and a fountain next to it in about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from the Kabata Chalet, to the left of the road. This place is very important in order all visitors to find their bearings. A short path forks in about 10-12 minutes (700 meters) after the chapel to the left. It descends straight downwards across the forest and leads to the outer round of the sharp road turn. The route continues to the right along the road for not more than 20 meters and then once again continues downwards across the forest, along a wide but very steep pathway. These two paths allow the visitors to save about 6 km of walking along the road, which losses its height with many twists. Thats why it is better for the visitors to find these two paths, despite the bad marking. The path once again leads to the horizontal road, low in the valley of Oreshitsa River. The visitors should continue to the left along this road and in about 15 minutes, by passing near a big church, they will reach a bridge for the lower neighbourhood of the village of Orehovo (2 hours and 15 minutes away from the Kabata Chalet, and 3 1/2 hours from Chudnite Mostove).

• Chepelare Izgrev Chalet Gluhite Kamani (The Deaf Stones) Groben Prohod (Dead Passage) (or Mezargidik) Persenk Peak Persenk Chalet

The route starts in Chepelare from the bridge in the low (north) end of the town, along the street, which leads to the Sivkovska neighbourhood. The route crosses the neighbourhood in the western direction and reaches the end of the town in about 15 minutes from the bridge. There is no marking up to this moment, but there is only one small rhomb, marking the beginning of the bicycle route. There is a blue marking to Izgrev Chalet at some places only after the end of the town. This marking follows the road and the valley of Sivkovska River in the western direction. There is an asphalt road in the beginning, passing near a fountain, as there is almost no slope.

The road becomes black in about 2.5 km (45 minutes) from the end of the town, as the climb continues. Then the route reached a road fork in a ravine. A bicycle route continues to the left, and the pedestrian route to the Izgrev Chalet continues to the right, along the ravine, along the cart-roar. Then there is a sharp turn to the right, immediately followed by a climb. The pathway, in about 1 hour from Chepelare and without any marking along the road itself, turns to the left, immediately followed by a steep climb, which cuts turns. The road appears again in about 8-10 minutes (600 meters) and after walking for a while along it, to the left, a road fork is reached. The pathway is in the middle between the two road forks. At first sight the place resembles a precipice washed away by the water, and the marked tree is cut. The steep climb is about 15 minutes (1 1/2 hours away from Chepelare). After this the path suddenly turns to the left and becomes almost horizontal. The marking is almost invisible to the direction of the climb, but there are signboards, marking the descent (a standpoint from the opposite direction must be found). The route continues climbing lightly along the slope, but is covered up at some places or destroyed by timber activity. The marking is still almost invisible, but the road-bed for walking is clearly outlined in the forest. In about 15 minutes the route leads to the cart-way once again and continues to the left alone it. The visitors should walk along it for a while, cross a ravine until they reach a road fork. The newer cart-way remains on the left side, and the route continues to the right along an older and overgrown road, along which the marking can be also seen.

The route continues from the Izgrev Chalet to the north-west, along a wide road, as the marking here is red in colour. The road lightly climbs across the forest, until a glade is reached in about 30 minutes of walking. A path to the Studenets Chalet and Pamporovo with red marking forks to the left, as there is a view to Mursalitsa and Perelishki part. The route to the Persenk Chalet continues to the right, along the road, which gradually turns to the north, surrounding the upland of the ridge from the north. A smaller road, which is often ignored, forks in about another 30 minutes to the left from the main road. The main road leads to wide glades (the locality of Gyola), as there is a nice fountain at their far end, next to the road (1 hour away from the Izgrev Chalet, 4 hours from Chepelare). The route continues from the fountain to the north along the road, which has almost no slope, and enters once again in the forest, passes along another fountain (recently restored) and leads to another glade. After passing this second glade, the black road turns to the left and starts losing its height. A smaller black road branched off here. The branch is marked but the visitors should be careful not to miss it. Then the route continues along a smaller black road to the right, which steeply climbs by few turns of the Mechkarski Peak (Aidarski Kamak) that is about 1850 meters in height. There is a small glade at the peak and an old triangle marking signboard. The road continues as a wide pathway, which turns to the right and continues in an almost horizontal direction by consecutively crossing few small glades. After this the route once again continues to the north and lightly descends into the locality of Gluhite Kamani (The Deaf Stones) in about 15 minutes from the peak(2 1/2 hours away from the Izgrev Chalet and 5 1/2 hours from Chepelare).

The visitors should keep walking from Gluhite Kamani along the road in northern direction, by following the same red marking. The road leads to a long glade and a fountain, after walking in an almost horizontal direction through the forest and in about 25-30 minutes. The marking disappers there and thats why the visitors should be careful to walk along the left, west end of the glade, where the end of the black road is marked. The road finished at the fountain, as theres marking once again.

Then a climb starts, as the route goes into a forest and in about 200 meters after the fountain leads to the remains of the old Roman road that is along the ridge of the Chernatitsa Hill. The marked pathway follows this road by climbing at about 2000 meters in altitude, by cutting high from the east the Golyam Persenk Peak. Then a short descent follows to the ridge between Golyam Persenk Peak and Persenk Peak, called Groben Prohod (Dead Passage) or Mezargidik (1 hour away from Gluhite Kamani, and 6 1/2 hours from Chepelare). The path forks from here (east), to the right, leading to Chudnite Mostove and passing near the Skalni Mostove Chalet (1 hour), and to the left leading to the monument of the anti-fascist resistance (5 minutes) and to the Golyam Persenk Peak. The road to the Persenk Chalet is straight forward, to the north-west, diagonally across the Groben Prohod Glade. There is no marking on the glades itself, and it should be searched for in the opposite end of the glade.

The road fork to the Persenk Peak is just before the end of the glade, in front of the lonely standing marking post, where there are no signboards left. Then the route continues by a sharp turn to the right, goes into the forest, passes around a big fallen tree and leads to a well outlined but slightly marked pathway. This pathway leads to the Persenk Peak in about 30 minutes of walking. If the visitors want to continue their way to the Persenk Chalet, they need to go back to the saddle of Groben Prohod (Dead Passage) because the western and northern slopes of Persenk Peak are very steep and impenetrable.

The visitors, after reaching Groben Prohod, should search for the marking in the north-west end of the glade. Then almost immediately they will return to the old Roman road of a slight slope in the beginning, and then will reach the Persenk Chalet, after walking down for about 1 hour from Groben Prohod. There is a fountain near the road almost in the middle between the saddle and the chalet. The road continues mainly through the forest, as there are some fine views to the left of the valley of Vacha River and Modar River. The whole route from the town of Chepelare to the Persenk Chalet takes about 7 1/2-8 hours. And there is about 1 more hour needed for climbing the Persenk Peak (going to and coming back from Grobeh Prohod).

• Persenk Chalet Groben Prohod (Dead Passage) (or Mezargidik) Skalni Mostove Chalet Chidnite Mostove village of Zabardo

The routes starts from the Persenk Chalet to the south, as the path must be searched for in the low right (west) end of the glade, where there are respective small marking signboards. The path goes into the forest and almost immediately reached the old Roman road, built along the ridge of Chernatitsa Hill. The visitors should walk during the first one hour along this Roman road, by gradually climbing it. The route continues across a forest almost all the time, as the rare opening to the right (west) reveal fine views to the region of the Modar Peak and the valley of the Vacha River. In about 30-40 minutes away from the chalet, the route passes near a fountain with very cold water. The saddle between Golyam Persenk Peak and Malak Persenk Peak, called Groben Prohod (Dead Passage) is reached in about 1 hour of walking along the Roman road. The old, Turkish name of this place is Mezargidik. It is a very important road fork, but there is only one old rusty signboard from the whole marking, where a plan of the marking is drawn. In the beginning, before going to the glade Groben Prohod, a small path forks to the right. In about 50 meters it leads to another, wider glade with a monument of the anti-fascist resistance and a view to the valley of Vacha River. A small path, which is slightly marked, starts in the souther direction of this second glade, and leads to Golyam Persenk Peak. The visitors should be careful in its upper end, because it goes into a young coniferous wood, which has taken the place of the old cutting area.

There is a lonely standing marking post in the beginning of Groben Prohod (when coming from the Persenk Chalet). A path to the Persenk Peak (Malak Persenk) starts from it, perpendicularly to the left, in the southern and south-eastern direction. This path goes back into the forest, passing near a big fallen tree and slightly climbs the peak. Its red marking is not very good.

The path to Skalni Mostove Chalet and to Chudnite Mostove, marked in yellow and red colour, is in the far, east end of the glade. The route goes almost in a level, eastern direction and goes into the forest again. Then there is a short descent through glades, a turn to the left, until a brook is crossed and a rutty, wide path is reached. These are the remains of an old road to the village of Orehovo, to a customs point, built on the former border between Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. Then the visitors should keep walking along this road for about 15 minutes. After this the marked path turns to the right, followed by a steep descent. The road fork is very well marked here. The steep descent is in an old forest and continues for about 10 minutes. Then the slope almost fades, passes near a young forest, which used to be a cutting place, and the pathway becomes wider. The visitors should then turn to the left and slowly walk down to the valley, until they reach a stream, which is one of the streams of the river that has created Chudnite Mostove (The Wonderful Bridges). The route continues along the left shore of the stream along the same wide, but rutty pathway, which finally goes along the wide black road, starting from the parking lot in front of the Skalni Mostove Chalet. (40 minutes away from Groben Prohod, and 1 hour and 40 minutes from the Persenk Chalet).

Then the visitors should continue walking from the Skalni Mostove Chalet to the right, down the asphalt road to Sinite Hancheta (The Blue Small Inns) and to the village of Zabardo. The road with few twists goes down to Chudnite Mostove and to the old chalet, called Chudnite Mostove, located next to Golemiya Most (The Big Bridge) (800 meters away from the Skalni Mostove Chalet). A short path crosses at few places the turns of the road and in about 15 minutes lead to Golemiya Most (2 hours from the Persenk Chalet).

The path to the village of Zabardo is passing across the Golemiya Most (The Big Bridge) itself and is marked in yellow colour. After the visitors pass on the south side of the bridge, they should turn to the left, almost at right, and go into the forest. They should keep walking like this for about 20 minutes, until they reach a area, thickly overgrown with young coniferous trees. The path may disappear here. The visitors should search for it to the right, diagonally upwards, with a common eastern south-eastern direction. After crossing this overgrown area, the visitors should walk down for a while until they reach a wide forest road. If they lose the path in the beginning of the overgrown area, they can keep walking forward, in the eastern direction across the forest, until reaching the same forest road. Then the route continues to the right along the road, almost in a horizontal here. The road finishes in about 15 minutes (30-40 minutes away from Chudnite Mostove). The pathway to the village of Zabardo forks diagonally to the right (to the south) and goes into the forest with a slight descent. The place is marked, but the visitors should be careful not to miss it.

After going into the forest, the visitors should climb for a while, and the direction gradually changes from south-east to the south-west. This means that the visitors should constantly turn to the right. The climb lasts about 30-40 minutes, but gives pleasure to all visitors. After this, before knowing, they start walking down. The forest becomes thinner and there are views to the near high place, called Chukata (The Rocky Peak) and to the valley of Zadardska River. The visitors keep walking down for about 20 minutes, as they slowly go down into the river valley. The tourist path in this area becomes one with a goat path. The visitors walk down the asphalt road from Sinite Hancheta (The Small Blue Inns) to the village of Zabardo in the very beginning of the village (2 hours away from Chudnite Mostover, and 4 hours from Persenk Peak).

• village of Orehovo Persenk Peak

The route starts from the center of the village along the main street in the western direction. In about 10 minutes (800 meters) it goes out of the villages and reaches a big road fork with sign boards. The main road, which is now of macadam, immediately turns to the left and slowly climbs to the Persenk Chalet, with a fork to the Kabata Chalet. This is the road intended for vehicles, as it is advisable all vehicles to be of high passability. A black road continues straight forward, in the western direction, along the river valley. There is a marking in blue colour along this road of the pedestrian path to the Persenk Chalet. In about 1/2 hour from this big road fork, the way turn to the left, crosses the river, after following its stream till now, and becomes steeper by going into the near ravine. There is a path to the Persenk Chalet at the next big left turn to the right of the road and the ravine. This path continues to the right of the turn and starts climbing the slope. The marking, which is at some places, is good along this path. The route continues through brushes and through a young forest. Then the visitors reach wild field, as the path becomes one with the road for a while, leading to them and continues for about 50 meters to the left of it. After this it crosses in two or three places a bigger, black road, which is also overgrown. The path, in about, finally becomes one with the same road and continues to the left along it, as there is almost no slope. The road reaches the forest, passes near the fountain and goes into wide wild fields with a building at the far (west) end. The forest road branches off into three smaller roads before the buildings. Then the visitors take the right road fork (which is not marked very good) and, just before it goes into the forest once again (50-70 meters away from the buildings), they should stop walking along it and turn to the left, by crossing a stream on a big stone bridge. There is marking again here. As an additional reference point, the visitors may use the transmission line, which actually leads to the Persenk Peak. Then they should continue walking along the road for a little while, across the wild fields, and go into the forest once again. The path becomes steeper and is mainly to the left side of the transmission line, by generally following the west direction. The forest is coniferous and becomes thicker. The slope become more and the visitors reach the lower end of the glades, where is the chalet (1690 meters in altitude). The whole route lasts about 2 1/2 hours, as the displacement is 750 meters and the marking is blue in colour.

• Persenk Chalet Izgrev Chalet town of Chepelare

The route is mainly along the ridge of Chernatitsa Hill this is one of the most popular and visited routes in the West Rhodope Mountains. This route is well marked mainly with red colour and is easy to be followed from a technical point of view it mainly follows black roads.

The route starts from the Persenk Chalet to the south, as the path should be searched in the low right (west) end of the glade, where all visitors can see the respective small marking signboards. Then the path goes into the forest and almost immediately reaches the old Roman road, built along the ridge of Chernatitsa Hill. The visitors should follow exactly this old Roman road during the first one hour of the route, as the road slowly but constantly climbs up. The route continues across a forest almost all the time, as the rare opening to the right (west) reveal fine views to the region of the Modar Peak and the valley of the Vacha River. In about 30-40 minutes away from the chalet, the route passes near a fountain with very cold water. The saddle between Golyam Persenk Peak and Malak Persenk Peak, called Groben Prohod (Dead Passage) is reached in about 1 hour of walking along the Roman road. The old, Turkish name of this place is Mezargidik. It is a very important road fork, but there is only one old rusty signboard from the whole marking, where a plan of the marking is drawn. In the beginning, before going to the glade Groben Prohod, a small path forks to the right. In about 50 meters it leads to another, wider glade with a monument of the anti-fascist resistance and a view to the valley of Vacha River. A small path, which is slightly marked, starts in the souther direction of this second glade, and leads to Golyam Persenk Peak. The visitors should be careful in its upper end, because it goes into a young coniferous wood, which has taken the place of the old cutting area.

The path that continues to the Izgrev Chalet is in the south-eastern direction, as the glade is diagonally crossed. There is marking in the forest, so the visitors should search for the beginning of the path diagonally in the other end of Groben Prohod (Dead Passage). The path once again becomes one with the old Roman road, which becomes steeper. Then the visitors should keep climbing along the path along the east slope of the Golyam Persenk Peak. They will reach the highest point of the route at about 2000 meters in altitude, after about 20 minutes of walking from Groben Prohod, and without going out of the forest. Then they should start going down in the south direction, as they should pass the old Roman road and continue to the left, until they reach a glade with a fountain that has big troughs for watering the cattle. The marking is not very good here, thats why the visitors should keep walking along the right (west) end, where there is a road, slightly outlined in the grass (30-35 minutes from Groben Prohod). There is marking again in the far, south end of the glade, and the road becomes well outlined. In about 50 meters inside the forest, the road branches off and is not well marked. The tourist should take the left, east road fork because it is better outlined. The road continues almost in a horizontal direction and in about 20 minutes leads to the locality of Gluhite Kamani (the Deaf Stones). A second path to Chudnite Mostove, which is marked in green colour, forks there to the right (2 hours from the Persenk Chalet).

The visitors should slowly start climbing up to the south, after reaching the locality of Gluhite Kamani (1920 meters in altitude). The road gradually becomes black in grasses and narrow. The route then crosses one or two small glades and once again goes into the forest. The general direction is to the south, but the turns often direct the visitors to the south-west. Then the visitors, after walking about 20 minutes from Gluhite Kamani, will reach the Mechkarski (Aidarski) Kamak Peak (2 1/2 hours from the Persenk Chalet). There are an old triangle marking signboard and a small glade on the top. The visitors should then start walking down the path in the southern- south-western direction, immediately after reaching this place. They will reach a wider black road, appearing to the right in about 15 minutes of walking. Then they should turn to the left along it and keep walking to the south, as there is almost no slope here. In about 40 minutes the road leads to a wide glade with a fountain, called Gyola (The Puddle) (3 hours from the Persenk Chalet). The glade is to be crossed, the road turns slightly to the right and passes around the next higher place, almost in a horizontal direction. There are fine views to the Devin Mountain to the right.

The direction of walking gradually changes from southern to south-eastern. Another glade is reached in about 25-30 minutes away from the glade with the fountain. There is a scenic view to Mursalitsa and the Perelishki part. There is a very important road fork on this glade the red marking of the ridge to the Studenets Chalet and to the Pamporovo Resort continues straight forward across the forest. The visitors should keep walking straight to the left (south-east) along the black road, along the same red marking in order to reach the Izgrev Chalet. They the route once again goes into the forest and in about 25 minutes slowly goes down to the Izgrev Chalet (4 1/2 hours from the Persenk Chalet).

From the Izgrev Chalet the route continues in the eastern and south-eastern direction, across a thin forest. There are few twisting pathways, which are not very well marked and are of different type of marking. The visitors may also keep walking straight across the glade in front of the chalet, as their reference point will be the transmission line, which transfers electricity to the Izgrev Chalet. They will then reach wide glades with few roads, after walking about 10-15 minutes from the chalet. This is the most difficult place in respect to finding ones bearings. The marked path goes down a black road and continues along it to the right. In about 100 meters the road branches off and reached an old house. It then passes to the right, under the house and reaches a new road fork. The path to Chepelare is straight forward, passing near the fence of fields and meadows, and remaining to the right side. The best marked road should be then crossed perpendicularly. The road once again goes into the forest almost in eastern direction and the marking appears once again. The marking is of blue colour and is more rarely placed than the red marking along Chernatitsa. In the beginning the path continues in the eastern direction through the forest, almost horizontally, resembling an abandoned forest road.

The route then leads to a cart-road and the visitors should keep walking for about 100 meters to its left side. The road with many swifts goes down the Sivkovska River. However, in about 1 km (15 minutes from the glades with the house) the pathway continues to the right aside the road and once again continues through the forest. The visitors should be careful and keep searching to it until they find it, because this place is not marked, and the old path has been covered in its very beginning during building of the cart-road. The path in the forest is overgrown at some places, and covered or destroyed at other places by the timber, coming down, as well as by the braches, trimmed by them. It then crossed a small gorge, as it suddenly to the right and starts losing its height, by going don the valley of Sivkovska River, which crosses the road at several places. The visitors should keep walking once again along the black road just before reaching the bottom of the valley. This black road follows the axis of the valley in eastern direction, by passing along the left, north shore of the river. The slope gradually becomes smaller, the road becomes better and becomes asphalt, leading to the Sivkovska neighbourhood of the town of Chepelare (2 1/2 hours from the Izgrev Chalet, and 7 hours from the Persenk Chalet).

This is the most detailed guide-book made in Bulgaria I am not aware of any other case when one and same section is described in the two directions. It is possible, on the same line, descriptions of the village of Orehovo Kabata Chalet Chudnite Mostove Persenk Chalet (they are available in the two directions), as well as of Kabata Chalet village of Malevo to be added.