of the range, scarcely topping 1000m. Its highest top is Balgarka (1181m).
On the main ridge of the Stara Planina at the edge of the Tsarichina Reserve (Walk 1, Day 2)
Founded in 1991, the Central Balkan national park, as its name suggests, is located in heart of the Central Stara Planina, covering an 85km stretch of the main ridge. It is the second largest protected territory in Bulgaria, with a total area of 71,670ha, and encompasses the three highest and wildest massifs of the range, the Zlatishko-Tetevenska Planina, Troyanska Planina and Kaloferska Planina, including 20 of the Stara Planina’s 2000m peaks. About 60 per cent of the national park is covered in forest, while the rest comprises a patchwork of high-mountain meadows, pastures and rock outcrops.
There are nine nature reserves within the boundaries of the national park, accounting for about 30 per cent of its total area. These are the Boatin, Tsarichina, Kozya Stena, Steneto, Stara Reka, Dzhendema, Severen Dzhendem, Peeshtite Skali and Sokolna reserves. In 2003 the Central Balkan national park became the fourth national park in Europe to be awarded the prestigious title PAN park, recognising it as the best of Europe’s wilderness. A PAN park offers real wilderness with outstanding nature and high-quality tourism facilities, well balanced with wilderness protection and sustainable local development. See www.panparks.org.
Geology
The name Stara Planina – ‘old mountains’ – is something of a misnomer, as this is in fact the youngest mountain range in the country, one of the so-called ‘new fold-mountains’ that were uplifted at the same time as the Alps and Himalayas as a result of tectonic pressures from the south. As a whole, the Central Balkan national park has a complex geological history and structure, and this helps to give the region its charm, and an ever-changing succession of landscapes. In places the main ridge is narrow, bristling with rugged peaks, its flanks lined with cliffs and pierced by deeply cut valleys. Elsewhere it is broad and mellow, with gently domed summits separated by shallow grassy saddles, the slopes swathed by pastures and ancient forests
Granites and crystalline schist are the dominant types of rock, most apparent in the highest parts of the range, where they burst to the surface along the backbone of the ridge like an array of jagged vertebrae. However, there are also sandstones, gneiss and marls, as well as a small but striking area of karst limestone. This forms the heart of the Steneto Reserve, where the river Cherni Osam has carved out a dramatic gorge flanked by cave-studded cliffs and precipices. Here is Raychova Dupka, which at 377m is the deepest cave in Bulgaria.
Hydrology
Running right across Bulgaria from west to east, the Stara Planina forms part of one of the most important watersheds on the Balkan Peninsula, dividing rivers between the Black Sea and Aegean basins. Rivers running down north from the mountains flow towards the Danube, and hence into the Black Sea, while those that drop south feed into the Maritsa and eventually out into the Aegean Sea. The main rivers of the Black Sea basin originating in the Central Balkan national park are the Vit, Osam, Vidima and Rositsa, while the most important rivers of the Aegean basin are the Topolnitsa, Stryama and Tundzha.
The Central Balkan national park has only one small lake, Saragyol (‘the yellow pool’), which lies tucked in at the southern foot of the peaks Malak Kupen and Golyam Kupen in the Kaloferska Planina. However, the national park is rich in streams on both sides of the watershed. The upper reaches of these streams tend to be steep and fast flowing, frequently cascading over rocks, and in several places plunging over high precipices to form beautiful waterfalls which are known locally as praskala (sprinklers). These include Karlovsko Praskalo, Babsko Praskalo, Kademliysko Praskalo and Raysko Praskalo, the latter being the highest waterfall in Bulgaria, with a drop of 125m. The majority of waterfalls are found tumbling down the southern flank of the mountains, but there is one major waterfall, Vidimsko Praskalo, which is located on the northern flank of the ridge in the Severen Dzhendem Reserve.
Cascade along the trail to hizha Dobrila (Walk 2, Day 2)
Climate
Not surprisingly, on account of its west–east alignment across the length of Bulgaria, the Stara Planina forms a significant climatic barrier whose influence is felt throughout the country. The northern slopes of the range experience a moderate-continental climate, while the southern slopes experience a transitional-continental climate with some Mediterranean influences. Within the Central Balkan national park itself, factors such as altitude and slope exposition also have a profound influence on the local micro-climate.
The average annual temperature within the national park is 7°C, but this figure is lower at higher altitudes, dropping to between zero and 2°C at altitudes above 2000m. Summer temperatures are often surprisingly warm, with a July average varying between 16°C and 22°C at lower altitudes, and between 7°C and 17°C at altitudes over 1000m. Winters, by contrast, tend to be very cold, with average January temperatures of between -1°C to -3°C at lower altitudes and between -3°C and -9°C above 1000m.
For walkers, one of the most important climatic characteristics that must be taken into account when venturing into the Central Balkan national park is fog. The Stara Planina as a whole is notorious for this, with the region of the national park experiencing on average some 270 days per year with foggy conditions. This figure rises to a staggering 305 days on the highest peak Botev. May and June tend to be worst in this respect, and the winter months of January and February are also fairly bad. For those in search of the sunniest and clearest weather, then August is usually the best bet.
At lower altitudes, the average annual precipitation within the Central Balkan national park varies from 550mm to 1000mm, with the southern slopes being notably drier than those to the north. At altitudes above 1000m, the average annual precipitation reaches 1200mm, and at hizha Ambaritsa on the northern flank of the range it is 1360mm, making this one of the wettest places in Bulgaria. Maximum precipitation occurs in early summer (typically during June) and is lowest in winter (usually in February).
During winter, precipitation tends to fall as snow. The first fleeting flurries can often be seen in September or October, but it is not usually until November that any dusting of snow is likely to remain permanent. The snow cover then gradually accumulates over the ensuing months, in March reaching a maximum depth of between 150cm and 220cm at altitudes above 2000m. At higher altitudes, the snow cover tends to last between 150 to 180 days, while in lower parts of the national park the duration is typically 75 to 80 days. Avalanches are a serious menace in the region during the winter months, typically in the high mountain treeless zone between 1500m and 2200m.
Another feature of the climate in the Stara Planina is the wind. The summit of Murgash (1687m) in the Western Stara Planina has the highest average annual wind speed in the country, with Botev (2376m) in the Central Balkan national park coming in a close second. In general, the average annual wind speed on the main ridge typically tops 10m/s, but it is not unusual for even stronger winds to be experienced in the region. One such wind is the föhn, a warm dry spring wind that whips up from the south and then gusts over the ridge, at times reaching speeds of between 18m/s and 20m/s. There is also a biting northerly wind, know as the bora, which blasts across the ridge and sweeps down over the southern slopes. Typical winds, however, tend to be northwesterly and of moderate strength.
Up-to-date weather information and forecasts for the Central Balkan region can be found at http://vremeto.v.bg, and then follow the link for Peak Botev.
Plant
