This is a beautiful hike in Mavrovo National Park of approximately 12 km with 600 m ascent starting in the village Mavrovo to the ski center.
There is a huge parking at the start of the hike. We struggled a little bit in the beginning to find the right trail, just follow the 4×4 dirt road.
After following the 4×4 dirt road for less than 3 km and passing 2 springs you enter a smaller forest trail.
Once you’re above the tree-line the views become really good. In the summer of 2023 there was a lot of high grass that we had to wade though.
At a certain moment we saw a deer running on a hill below us, and there was a huge nest of black caterpillars in a tree as well next to the trail.
After about 6 km you can see two houses or huts. From here we did not notice a very clear trail anymore, it may have been overgrown with the tall grass or there may not be an “official” trail at all. Anyway, with the GPS this is no problem and we continued “freestyle” in the right direction, which was pretty clear.
There are some ruins before you reach the ski center and behind the ski center there is a sheep farm.
You’ll have good views of Lake Mavrovo and the ruins of the old church of St Nikola, which was flooded when the artificial Mavrovo Lake was made. We visited St Nikola after the hike, it was summer and the church was not flooded.
The last part is rather steeply downhill. Just before reach the end of the hike there’s a monument for the people fallen in World War 2.
The hike gets 4 stars for good scenery, great views and a nice combination of a good trail and some easy freestyle through high grass.
We also wanted to re-visit the Sharkova Dupka Cave near the center of Mavrovo village which we had visited many years ago, but it was closed and the owner did not answer his phone when a local tried to call him. Probably the cave is only open in the weekends.
Note that is required to buy a ticket when you go hiking in Mavrovo National Park. This can be done online (https://npmavrovo.mk/tickets) or in person at the Information Point just outside the village Mavrovi Anovi (location: https://goo.gl/maps/vKJyEXSjDrhDn2V5A).
You can view and download the GPS track of this hike here: https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/village-mavrovo-to-ski-center-in-mavrovo-national-park-144788476
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