Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks

My new guidebook to 'Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks' has just been published today by Cicerone Press!

The 12 routes described in 'Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks' thread their way through the 'Central Balkan' National Park, 'Rila' National Park and 'Pirin' National Park, taking in ancient forests, shimmering glacial lakes, panoramic ridges and the two highest peaks in the country, Musala and Vihren. All great mountain walks in their own right, they have also been selected to offer the best chance of encountering a wealth of rare plants and animals. 'Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks' offers 2- to 3-day walks for fit and experienced mountain walkers and one full-day ascent of Mount Vihren with comprehensive background information about the wildlife to be seen.

Here is a short piece from the book's introduction:

'Blessed with a favourable climate, a wonderful variety of landscapes, a uniquely rich flora and fauna and a wealth of hiking trails, the choice of where to walk in Bulgaria is pretty much limitless. For the author of a guidebook such as this, it also makes the choice of what to include and what to leave out very difficult. In the end, I decided to limit the focus to Bulgaria’s three national parks, Rila, Pirin and Central Balkan. These national parks not only occupy the highest and wildest mountains in the country, but they are also threaded with a network of well-marked hiking trails. These paths typically lead through spectacular scenery and offer an unrivalled opportunity to encounter some of Europe’s rarest plants and animals.

As well as providing detailed route descriptions for many of the most outstanding walks offered by these three national parks, I have also included a great deal of background information about the history and geography of places passed along the trails, as well as comprehensive details of the wildlife likely to be seen. Mountain walking in Bulgaria’s national parks provides more than simply a physical challenge – it is a unique opportunity to experience wilderness and to glimpse the rare flora and fauna that still manages to find a safe refuge there.'

'Central Balkan' National Park

Founded in 1991, the 'Central Balkan' National Park is the second largest protected territory in Bulgaria with an area of 71,669.5 hectares. It is located in the highest part of the Stara Planina (Balkan Mountains), covering an 85 kilometre long stretch of the main ridge. About 39% of the 'Central Balkan' National Park comprises mountain pastures, meadows and rock outcrops. The remaining 61% of the 'Central Balkan' National Park is forested, Broad-leaved species dominate, in particular European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) which accounts for about 70% of the forested area. The most common coniferous species is Norway Spruce (Picea abies).

There are nine nature reserves within the 'Central Balkan' National Park, accounting for about 28% of its total area:

• 'Boatin' Nature Reserve (1,597.2 hectares)


• 'Tsarichina' Nature Reserve (3,418.7 hectares)


• 'Kozya Stena' Nature Reserve (904.3 hectares)


• 'Steneto' Nature Reserve (3,578.8 hectares)


• 'Stara Reka' Nature Reserve (1 974.7 hectares)


• 'Dzhendema' Nature Reserve (4,220.2 hectares)


• 'Severen Dzhendem' Nature Reserve (1,610 hectares)


• 'Peeshtite Skali' Nature Reserve (1,465.7 hectares)


• 'Sokolna' Nature Reserve (1,250 hectares)

The 'Boatin' Nature Reserve, 'Tsarichina' Nature Reserve, 'Steneto' Nature Reserve and 'Dzhendema' Nature Reserve have all been designated as UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.

The flora of the 'Central Balkan' National Park is extremely rich, some 1900 species and sub-species of higher plants which represents about half the Bulgarian flora. These include 10 local endemics (found nowhere else in the world), 10 Bulgarian endemics (known only from Bulgaria) and 67 Balkan endemics (growing only on the Balkan Peninsula).

The 'Central Balkan' National Park also has an extremely varied fauna. The invertebrate fauna is still only partly studied, but already over 2300 species and subspecies have been recorded. These include 9 species of dragonfly (Odonata) and many interesting butterflies (Lepidoptera).

The vertebrate fauna of the 'Central Balkan' National Park has been studied in much greater detail, and includes 6 species of fish, 8 species of amphibians and 14 species of reptiles. Some 224 species of birds have been recorded within the national park itself, of which 123 species have been recorded as breeding. This number increases to 151 nesting species if one includes the species that have been recorded breeding in adjacent areas and which fall within the 'Central Balkan' Important Bird Area (IBA). Some 59 species of mammals have been recorded in the 'Central Balkan' National Park. These include 18 species of bats, 25 species of small mammals (insectivores and rodents), and 16 species of large mammals, of which 12 species are carnivores including brown bear, wolf, jackal and even a record of a lynx.

'Pirin' National Park

The origins of the 'Pirin' National Park go back to 1962, but during the ensuing years its boundaries have been enlarged and altered several times. Today the 'Pirin' National Park occupies a total area of 40,332.4 hectares, and covers about 15% of the Pirin Mountains. About 43% of the 'Pirin' National Park comprises open terrain, in the form of mountain pastures and meadows, as well as rocky peaks, ridges and screes. The remaining 57% of the national park is forested, in particular by extensive areas of Dwarf Mountain Pine (Pinus mugo), Macedonian Pine (Pinus peuce), Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway Spruce (Picea abies).

There are two nature reserves within the 'Pirin' National Park, accounting for about 14.9% of its total area:

'Bayuvi Dupki - Dzhindzhiritsa' Nature Reserve (2,873 hectares)

'Yulen' Nature Reserve (3,156.2 hectares)

The 'Bayuvi Dupki - Dzhindzhiritsa' Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, whilst the 'Pirin' National Park as a whole was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

The flora of the 'Pirin' National Park is very rich, some 1315 species of higher plants which represents about one third of the total number of species found within Bulgaria. These include 18 local Pirin endemics (found nowhere else in the world), 17 Bulgarian endemics (known only from Bulgaria) and 86 Balkan endemics (growing only on the Balkan Peninsula).

The 'Pirin' National Park also has an extremely diverse and interesting fauna. The invertebrate fauna is still only partly studied, but already over 2000 species have been found. These include 9 species of dragonfly (Odonata) and many interesting butterflies (Lepidoptera).

The vertebrate fauna of the 'Pirin' National Park has been studied in much greater detail, and includes 6 species of fish, 8 species of amphibians and 11 species of reptiles. During recent studies, some 159 species of birds have been found within the national park itself, of which 110 species have been recorded as breeding. This number increases to 129 nesting species if one includes the species that have been recorded breeding in adjacent areas and which fall within the 'Pirin' Important Bird Area (IBA). Some 45 species of mammals have been recorded in the 'Pirin' National Park. These include 16 species of bats, 16 species of small mammals (insectivores and rodents), and 13 species of large mammals, of which 9 species are carnivores including brown bear and wolf.

'Rila' National Park

Covering an area of 81,046 hectares, the 'Rila' National Park is Bulgaria’s largest national park. It was established in 1992 and covers about 30% of the Rila Mountains. About one third of the 'Rila' National Park comprises open terrain, in the form of rocky peaks and ridges, or high mountain pastures and meadows. The remaining two thirds of the national park are forested, in particular extensive coniferous forests dominated by Norway Spruce (Picea abies), Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Macedonian Pine (Pinus peuce).

There are four nature reserves within the 'Rila' National Park, accounting for about 20% of its total area:

• 'Parangalitsa' Nature Reserve (1,509 hectares)


• 'Skakavitsa' Nature Reserve (70.8 hectares)


• 'Ibar' Nature Reserve (2,248.6 hectares)


• 'Central Rila' Nature Reserve (12,393.7 hectares)

The 'Parangalitsa' Reserve and part of the 'Central Rila' Reserve are UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.

The flora of the 'Rila' National Park is exceptionally rich, some 1400 species of higher plants which represents nearly 40% of the total number of species found within Bulgaria. These include 3 local Rila endemics (found nowhere else in the world), 18 Bulgarian endemics (known only from Bulgaria) and 36 Balkan endemics (growing only on the Balkan Peninsula).

The 'Rila' National Park also has an extremely diverse and interesting fauna. The invertebrate fauna is still only partly studied, but already almost 3000 species have been found, and the final total is estimated to be around 7000 species. These include several interesting species of dragonfly (Odonata) and butterflies (Lepidoptera).

The vertebrate fauna of the 'Rila' National Park has been studied in more detail, and includes 12 species of fish, 10 species of amphibians and 10 species of reptiles. Some 99 species of birds have been recorded breeding within the national park itself, but this number increases to 130 species if one includes the species that have been recorded breeding in adjacent areas and which fall within the 'Rila' Important Bird Area (IBA). Some 49 species of mammals have been recorded in the 'Rila' National Park. These include 10 species of bats, 23 species of small mammals (insectivores and rodents), and 16 species of large mammals, of which 11 species are carnivores including brown bear and wolf.