This is an easy-going hike of 10 km with 400 m ascent that we did in September 2022. It takes you from Peshtani at Lake Ohrid through Galicica National Park to Trpejca at Lake Ohrid.
The first 3 km are a bit of a climb via a nice forest trail and you’ll pass a small shrine dedicated to St Naum. There are some signposts showing the trails of the Galicica National Park as well along the way.
After about 5 km you reach the Church of St Spas, located at one of the most beautiful places of Galicica National Park on a field in a valley below the mountains named Pole Doline.
Last time I visited this place was in 2019, during my hike from Pestani to St Naum. A new church was being constructed and I was confused about the location of the old church that used to be there. It now turned out that the old church now is part of the new church! Construction work was still in progress in 2022 by the way.
It was busy at the church, probably because it was 08 September which is Independence Day and a holiday in Macedonia.
We continued our hike to Trpejca via a very attractive small forest trail. In fact, this part of the route was the main reason to do this hike because it seemed to be one of the few trails that I had not walked yet in Galicica National Park. It was worth it!
Once you have passed the asphalt road from Ohrid to Trpejca the trail becomes a bit less clear so keep an eye on the GPS track.
Just before descending to the village of Trpejca, you have the opportunity to visit the Krstova cave, which is just 800 m and 60 m extra climbing away. This point is indicated with a waypoint in the GPS track. Make sure you have the GPS track for the Krstova cave if you plan to visit it, otherwise you will not be able to find the cave.
If you feel like some extra hiking, there is also the possibility to visit the Monastery of St Zaum from Trpejca. Most people think this church can only be reached by water, but there also is a trail from Trpejca to St Zaum. It adds about 3.5 km and 150 m climbing. Alternatively, you can probably catch a watertaxi in Trpejca to bring you to the church.
In addition, there is the possibility to visit the Naumova Cave along the way to the Church of St Zaum, although the path to this cave is very overgrown with thorny bushes.
Otherwise, just relax at the beach of Trpejca!
We did not do any of these things but rushed for the bus back to Peshtani, which was supposed to depart any minute. Unfortunately, it did not show up at all, which gave us the time to get an ice-cream at the shop next to the bus stop. The 2022 timetable for the bus is in the pictures at the wikiloc website below..
We waited and waited and In the end we got a ride back to Pesthani from a friendly German guy.
This was a short but pleasant hike, it gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.
You can view and download the GPS track of this hike here: https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/peshtani-to-trpejca-via-galicica-national-park-117455181
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