Aytoska planina

Worth a detour

The Aytos mountain is the last low swell of the eastern Balkan range before the plain: twenty-five kilometres long, fifteen to eighteen across, and four hundred and eighty-four metres at its summit. There are no marked routes to speak of and no visitor infrastructure. It is an hour from Burgas and it is where you go if you want a wooded walk with nobody on it.

Story

Background

The range runs east to west north of Aytos, giving rise to the Acheloy and Aytoska rivers. Its high point is Karatepe at four hundred and eighty-four and a half metres; the southern part tops out at Kapaklia, four hundred and twenty-four. A hut called Gorska Sreshta sits above the village of Medovo.

The pass through it carries third-class road 208 and runs for forty-five kilometres between the Aytos plain and the Provadia road, with the saddle around three hundred and ninety metres — though the sources disagree and one gives three hundred and fifty. It is kept open all year except in heavy snow, and since 2021 it has been closed to transit traffic over twelve tonnes; heavy vehicles use the Rish pass instead. A Bulgarian endemic plant called the Aytos vetch grows on the saddle.

There is archaeology in the hills and none of it is presented. Two kilometres north-west of Aytos, on the summit of the hill of the same name, is the late antique and medieval fortress of Hisarya; an ancient reservoir lies nearby; and two kilometres east, on an isolated rock, are rock-cut single-chamber wine presses. All are on the national register. What there is not is a nature park, a directorate, a waymarked trail network or anywhere to buy water. Treat it as navigation practice in pleasant oak woodland, and go in spring.