Dyulino Pass

Worth a detour

The Dyulino pass carries the road over the eastern end of the Stara Planina between the Burgas plain and the Kamchia valley. It is not a walk and there is nothing at the top, but it is the alternative to the coast road when the coast road is solid in August, and the woodland on both sides of it is the sort of country the Bulgarian coast forgot it had.

Story

Background

The eastern Balkan range is low here, wooded and rounded, and the passes across it are gentle by Bulgarian standards. Dyulino is one of them, running north from the Burgas plain towards the Kamchia. The road is asphalt, two lanes, and empty for most of the year.

What recommends it is arithmetic. The coastal road between Burgas and Varna runs through Obzor and Byala and is one of the worst bottlenecks in the country in July and August, with the Nesebar and Sunny Beach traffic feeding into it. Going inland over the pass takes longer on paper and is frequently quicker in practice, and it is a far better drive: beech and oak, small villages, no billboards and no coaches.

There is nothing at the summit — no viewpoint, no café, no marker worth stopping for. The pleasure is in the transit and in what is either side of it: the Aytos and Eminska ranges to the west and east, the Kamchia forest to the north, and the Karadere and Irakli coast reachable down side roads. In winter the pass is occasionally closed by snow, and the road is unlit and unforgiving at night. For anyone driving between Burgas and Varna in high season with time to spare, it is the better route, and almost nobody takes it.