I6 – Palanka – Stracin – 134.7km

General details:

• Length: 134.7km
• Best time to hike: March – June and September – November
• Mountain Huts on trail: 0 . Plan for wild camping
• Waymarked: No. You must use the provided GPS track
• Trail type: mountain paths, forest roads, dirt roads, Zero paved road
• Surrounding on the trail: Mixed evergreen and deciduous forest, plenty of open views, plenty of meadows, history and culture
• Elevation profile:

GPS track:

Section I6 is complete with all tracks, markers, photos of points of interest, and added digital elevation..

Download the complete GPS track (KML format) for this section HERE (Macedonian version – English coming soon )

You can read instructions for the meaning of the markers, the types of trails, and the colors used HERE

Google MAP- ( How to use it ? )

More significant peaks accessible directly or via side trails:

– Anishte
– Chupino brdo
– Bilino brdo
– Boshanov kamen
– Peren
– Virovi
– Kitka
– Tatichev kamen

Description/Status:

Osogovski Monastery – Tromedja

Starting from the parking lot above the Osogovski monastery, the path climbs about 100 meters in height and briefly leads you to a narrow asphalt road, from which you quickly separate and descend through Varovishte to the village of Pashina Vodenica where you cross the Palanka-Deve Bair highway and follow the riverbed of Kriva Reka until the exit to the local road to Trnovo. Very quickly you separate from this road and through a beautiful forest path you climb the Momica hill where the trails levels out and continues towards the village of Trnovo. Passing over Trnovo, the route approaches the Macedonian-Bulgarian border and in the direction of Tromedja, passing by the old watchtower, it leads you near the border, passing under the peaks of Kopriva, Kurvin Grada and Ostra Chuka until the junction for Tromedja ( border point )between Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria, which is accessible by a short spur trail

Condition: The beginning of this segment, specifically the section between Osogovski Monastery through Varovishte to Pasina Vodenica, is mostly on wide grassy roads with one short section on an asphalt road before Varovishte. After crossing the river Kriva and separating from the asphalt road towards Trnovo, the trail quickly turns to an unmarked, beautiful forest path, and after exiting the ridge in the direction of Trnovo, it momentarily coincides with a marked path that leads along the wide road to the village of Trnovo. After separating from the wide dirt road, the path is not marked but leads along a beautiful and easy to follow wide forest road. Here you may need minimal help of the GPS signal.

Tromegja – Chupino Brdo

From Tromegja, the transversal route continues mainly along the old border road above the area of the villages of Golema Crcoria and Luke, in the direction of Aniste – the northernmost peak of Macedonia, which is accessible by a spur trail. On the way to Anishte, you cross the asphalt road that leads to the Golesh border crossing. The environment changes several times on the route – from a low-stemmed to a deep deciduous forest, to a beautiful evergreen forest and an open ridge with wide views.
From the area of village Aldušica, the path turns to the west, moves away from the border and descends towards the Klisura river, from where it continues for a while on a dirt road to below the old border neighborhood of Ratkovica, where it turns again into a hiking trail that leads all the way to Chupino brdo.

Condition: The trail in this segment is not marked anywhere, but in the first half it is very easy to follow. After the descent into the valley of the Klisura river, more precisely from the separation from the dirt road in the direction of Chupino Brdo, the path turns into an old forest path that sometimes gets lost and this whole section requires more frequent monitoring of the GPS signal until the Chupino Brdo peak.

Chupino Brdo – German

After Chupino Brdo, you come out on a wide road that follows the ridge and slowly descends to the Preslap pass, where it intersects the asphalt road to Metezhevo and continues along the dirt road along the Bilino mountain to the Strazha peak. After a short time, the dirt road is replaced by a wide mountain road that leads you all the time near the ridge of Bilino, where beautiful wide views of the entire Slavishka valley opens up. The route continues along the gentle peaks of Boshanov Kamen and Porta until the turnoff towards the area of the village Nerav, where it descends through Germanski Rid, along a mixed hiking trail and dirt path, to the green valley of the Nerav River. Further, the trail leads along the Neravska River to Germanska River, from where it begins to climb along a wide forest road to the area of the village of German, more precisely to the Germanska Faucet.

Condition: The trail throughout this segment is not marked, but for the most part it leads along wide forest roads and is therefore not difficult to follow, except for a small part when descending through the area of the village of Nerav, where the path is not developed for a while and leads through several meadows where it is necessary to follow the route according to the GPS signal.

German – Kitka

From the village of German, the transversal has already crossed the German Mountain. From the church of Holy Trinity ( Sv. Troica ) trail leads along an asphalt road and after a while to dirt and forest roads leading to the village of Dlabochica and the waterfall with the same name on the Mala river, which was previously forded twice. After the waterfall, you cross the river again and the path turns into a mountain forest path that leads past the Dlabochica Mountain House to the base of the Peren peak, where it transitions onto a dirt road. The transversal further follows the ridge of Kozjak mountain, moving alternately along wide dirt roads and narrow hiking trails to the Virovi peak, from where it continues along the ridge of Kozjak to peak Kitka and then down the rocky slopes of Kozjak to the village of Malotino.

Condition: The path from the asphalt road to the Dlabochica waterfall is not marked, but you go along a wide dirt road and then a forest road and it is easy to follow with a GPS device. From the Dlabochica mountain lodge to the base of the Peren peak, the trail is marked, and then along the ridge of Kozjak to the Virovi peak, it is again not marked , but it is easy to follow. Shortly after passing the Virovi peak, until the foot of the Kitka peak, the trail is non-existent, ie. it is not there at all, but with the help of a GPS signal, this part is easy to follow. At the foot of the Kitka peak, all the way to the very top, there is an old marking again. After passing the top, you follow a marked path through the rocks, which you leave shortly after passing the rocky area, and down towards the village of Malotino, you again follow an unmarked and, in some places, unclear path in the upper part, where at times it is necessary to watch the GPS signal.

Malotino – Bajlovce

From Malotino, the trail descends along a wide road to river Bistrica , where it turns to the east and for some time follows a picturesque path along the river bed before turning to the South and starting to ascend in the direction of Kokino. On the ridge near Kolasti Kamen, you get on a mountain road that leads past the locality of Kokino all the way to the asphalt road that leads to Dlabochica. After crossing the asphalt road, the trail continues through a picturesque part straight through a deciduous forest, past the old mines, then through an evergreen forest and along the ridge, past the archaeological sites of Visoka and Vranica, all the way down to the asphalt road that leads to the village of Bajlovce.

Condition: From Malotino to Kokino the path is marked, but at times the markings may not be clearly visible and the GPS signal should be checked. From Kokino to the parking lot near Bajlovce, the path is not marked, although temporary markings have been placed in some places. However, the path is freshly cleaned and with a little help from GPS, it can be passed without any problem.

Bajlovce – Monastery of Karpino

After separating from the asphalt road, the path briefly leads you through a dirt road to the village of Cvilance and soon separates from the road and along a beautiful path enters the river bed of Lisicki dol, which is followed all the way to the confluence with river Petroshnica , from where it continues through the river valley. After a few kilometers, the trail crosses the river and begins to climb through the little canyon of the Gradacka River, passing over the Skakavche waterfall and further to the ridge which it follows almost to the Nepce peak. From here, the transversal turns south and descends to Golem Dol after which climbs to Dabov Rid and arrives at the famous Karpino monastery

Condition: This segment does not have a marked trail, but following the trail does not require frequent help from a GPS device, although the trail is poorly visible and undeveloped in some places. GPS signal is needed through the short canyon of the Gradacka river between the Skakavche waterfall to the exit of the ridge before Nepce and in the middle part between Nepce and Karpino Monastery where the path itself is sometimes missing or poorly visible.

Karpino Monastery – Stracin

From the Karpino Monastery, the trail turns north towards Sharkova Korija, where it emerges on a wide forest road and leads past Mokro Ezero pond, and soon the smaller pond named Suvo Ezero. At Suvo Ezero, the trail turns south again and slowly descends in the direction of Stracin. The transversal route first leads along a wide forest road to the abandoned village of Karadak, characterized by its authentic old Macedonian architecture, and then along a narrow mountain path leads you to and through the natural protected reserve Ploce Litotelmi, finally past the church of St. Dimitrij (built in 1847) and down to the village of Stracin, which is the end of the section I6 of the Macedonian Endless Trail.

Condition: From Karpinski Monastery to Suvo Ezero the path is marked, although at the beginning above the monastery you should watch out for the GPS signal. From Suvo Ezero to Stracin, the path is not marked, but it is clearly visible for the most part. However, in several places you will need to check the GPS to follow the route. After exiting the village of Stracin, follow the asphalt road through the village until you reach the exit of the highway Kumanovo – Kriva Palanka.