Биоразнообразието в Родопите

ROUTE 3

Hiking trail for the summer and autumn season:

Golubovitsa cave – Cherkovata peak – Nadarska cave – the village of Mogilitsa. Total length 11.1 km

To the starting point of the trail you can go by car, by bus or by bike. The trail starts from the shelter situated along the main road Smilyan – Mogilitsa, where a billboard “Garga Dere Tourist Trail” will make you stop. After a short passage along a rocky path and crossing Essenna river by a rope bridge, the trail crosses a beech grove to bring you at the entrance of Golubovitsa 2 cave. Here the guides-speleologists from “Mursalitsa” association will provide you with the necessary speleological equipment for penetration in the cave. They will equip you with waterproof rubber boots, safety jacket and headlamp in order to succeed to pass through the barriers created by nature as if to protect the cave. A short distance after entering the cave you boat upstream the underground creak to get into the cave’s main gallery. The extraordinary formations and shapes in the wet part were carved by the steadily flow of the underground stream for centuries. Karst formations – stalactites and stalagmites – are visible on the walls and the ceiling of the gallery.

After the underground adventure you will go through another test – the Via Ferrata, or a 140 m metal road in the rock, built with iron steps and handles in the rock. The vertical passage is dangerous and you can go through it only with special safety equipment, which can be provided by the qualified guides of Mursalitsa association. The final section of this extreme climbing will lead you through beautiful rock vaults, molded for centuries by water and wind.

For those, who still haven’t felt enough adrenalin flow there is one more extreme adventure they can experience: “Alpine trolley” – sloping along a rope line between the two riversides of Esenina River. The height is 20 m over the river. The flight with the “Alpine trolley” will really give you wings and space feeling.

“Golubovitsa” cave series / Gulubovitsa reg. N BFSp-1322 The Golubovitsa location is a series of 4 caves which are connected in between. They are situated on the right slope of Garga dere (Esenska River) – 30 km from the present river bed.
“Golubovitsa 1” is a small cave connected with the “Golubovitsa 2” water cave. It is a karsts spring and the water from “Golubovitsa 2” take its source from it.
“Golubovitsa 2” is 380 m long and is a water cave. After entering the cave there comes a water half-siphon (when there is not much water – in autumn). A distance of 380 m. we go upstream and reach a water siphon. The water siphon was surmounted in 2007 in the village of Smilyan by Orlin Kolov and Tsvetan Petrov – spelaeologists from the town of Pleven. The length of the siphon is 29 m. After 1200 m we reach another siphon, which is still not surmounted. The spelaeologist researches will be continued.
“Golubovitsa 3” is over the “Golubovitsa 2” water cave. The two caves are connected by a precipice. Golubovitsa 3” is a horizontal cave. There are blocks on the floor, and secondary karst formation on the ceiling. The cave is inhabited by stock of bats.
“Golubovitsa 4” is a sloping passage cave which is 48 m. long. There are no formations there. The caves are prospected and mapped by Dimitar Raichev, Todor Todorav – 1969, “Studenets” Cave club from the town of Chepelare. The cave researches continued in 2007 -Orlin Kolov and Tsvetan Petrov – “Studenets” Cave club – Pleven.

If you don’t like the extreme adventures you may continue your way going from “Golubovitsa 2” along a marked path to Cherkovata peak. If you feel tired you may have a rest at the tourist shelter in that section, where the view is amazing – you can se the panorama of the Arda valley and Arda peak. After the rest, continue to Cherkovata peak, passing through a cool forest (beech, pine-tree, spruce, and elm-tree wood). Reaching the peak we see the Alpine grass plot. A long time ago there was a church there, that’s why the peak is called Cherkovata (the old church). The view is magnigicent! From here you can see Perelik peak – to the north, Kom peak – to the south. The path goes down through a small forest and continues to the starting tourist point of Nadarska cave.

Reaching the small tourist shelter at the road fork before Kremene village continue to north-east and after 1,2 km you reach the Nadarska cave, which is located in Chervenka area, on the west slope of the mountain peak. Nadarska cave length is 55 m, the displacement inside – 10 m, a single-gallery cave. Entering the cave and passing the entrance section you reach a small hall full of great number of secondary karsts formations – stalactite and stalagmite.

From Nadarska cave the trail will take you through Kremeneto natural sight to the Nadartsi village and from there joins a forest road that brings you to Kiselchovo village. Besides for the magnificent landscapes, the village is known as the place where the traditional meal keshkek (made from boiled wheat grain and stew lamb) is still prepared. From Kiselchovo take the main road to Mogilitsa.

The village of Mogilitsa is situated 28 km to the south of Smolyan. Its houses are situated on the left bank of the Arda River. The village is at an altitude of 950 m above the see level. About 560 people live in the village and in the small settlements around. The main occupation in the region in the past was sheep-breeding. Mogilitsa is a popular tourist location and a favorite place for the tourists. There you can visit the famous mansion complex “Agushevi konatsy” – an architectural monument of the Bulgarian Revival, unique for the Balkans in its ethnographic and cultural value. In proximity to the village is the protected area “Padala”, featuring concentration of flora and fauna species. Historical places of interest dating from the Antiquity, Middle Ages and Bulgarian Revival period contribute to its attractiveness for visitors.

Local crafts like traditional textile production and cooperage are still alive and the produce of craftsmen is available at the Exhibition center of traditional crafts in the center of the village.