This 21 km long hike has 1125 m ascent. I wanted to climb Mount Kitka and visit the Drachevo Cave so I tried to combine them both in one hike.
Note that as a consequence of making this a circular hike, the last 5 km are on an asphalt road between some small villages (Vrtekitsa, Pagarusha and Dolno Kolichani). If you’re not interested in the Drachevo cave (Drachevska Peshtera), you may as well take the same way back to Gorno Kolichani, which would make the climb to Kitka peak and back about 17 km.
I came by car from Skopje and Google Maps tried to send me to Gorno Kolichani via an unpaved dirt road, so pay attention! If in doubt, let Google Maps route to Gorno Kolichani via Drachevo and Dolno Kolichani.
It was a bit difficult to find the start of the hike, which surprised me because I thought this was a relatively often used trail to the Kitka peak. After a while the trail became more clear and easy to follow.
A general remark on the trail: it was pretty overgrown at some places, but never so bad that it was very difficult to get through. Maybe this was because of the partial ban for movement in the forest from July-September 2025, which probably discouraged many people to go hiking and keep the trail in better condition.
I parked at the Mosque in Gorno Kolichani, there is limited parking space. It’s a small village with small streets.
There are several springs along the trail.
The Kitka Mountain House was deserted, I had a short break there. That was a good idea because from the mountain house to the Kitka peak was still quite a climb.
From the Kitka peak you have a good view over the surrounding mountains, as well as over parts of Skopje.
From the peak it’s all downhill to the Drachevo Cave, for which you have to make a small 500 m detour. The cave was not very impressive and not very deep. But I read after my visit (of course!) that you apparently have to crawl though a narrow channel to reach a great hall of 54 m2, so I apparently missed that opportunity. Please let me know if you succeeded to see this last part of the cave! The cave was dry during my visit in September, but in the colder months there should be a spring in the cave.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, the last 5 km of this hike are on asphalt, which was a necessary evil to make this route circular. The fact that the trail was a bit overgrown did not contribute to a relaex walk. But the views from Kitka peak were really worth the climb and the Drachevo Cave was a good addition if you like caves. Overall I would rate this hike with 3 out of 5 stars.
You can view and download the GPS track of this hike here: https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/gorno-kolichani-kitka-peak-drachevo-cave-vrtekitsa-235007477
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