The trail passes through some of the most picturesque areas of Svoge. The 48 km route is not difficult because it is on asphalt, but 3 km from it between the village of Bov and the village of Lakatnik may seem like a nightmare for many. Not because it has climbs, but because the route passes through a dense forest and during the sunny month of August, it was just impassable. Just swampy area with sticky loamy soil. I cannot imagine what’s going on during the other months of the year.
The route starts from the town of Svoge in the direction of Mezdra. At around the 9th km the road goes to the village of Gara Bov, then continues on the way up to the village of Bov. You have to climb about 6.5 kilometers and 500 meters of displacement along a „serpentine“ road until you reach the first houses of the village where there is a fountain and a road fork. On this road fork you have to take the left road to Lukovo neighborhood. There the climb continues until it reaches a straight road with beautiful views on the left side to the villages of Zasele, Zimevitsa and Zanoge. Approximately 3-4 km from the turn-off to Lukovo neighborhood, the road branches out. You have to go straight through the forest road to the village of Lakatnik. The road cannot be mistaken, because there are signs everywhere. The left road leads to the Planinets farm, which is closed. But let’s go back to the forest road to the village of Lakatnik – it is only around 3 km long, but the mud, the water and the clay make it extremely hard. Beware of the snakes hiding in the puddles. The forest road runs almost to the center of the village of Lakatnik, from where follows a small ascent and a few kilometers of picturesque descent to the village of Lakatnik. By going out on the main road to Svoge, about a kilometer away, you can visit the famous place at the cave to have some water, food or drink a cold beer. From there the road to Svoge is about 18 km. The altitude that is reached is 931 meters.
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