If you ask someone in Varna where you could make a quick circle with your mountain bike near the city, the answear probably would be “next to the TV tower”. It is located on a plateau above the city, the slope is steep and facing south, which means that the trails dry quickly even after rain. Well, it also means that more and more houses and villas are appearing under the forest belt, but for now there are enough trails for local sports and nature lovers to ride mountain bikes, run, walk, walk dogs, etc.
As the part of the name in brackets shows, on this shorter route we descend again on the "Right" path, but we avoid the most difficult and dangerous section with the vertical slopes on the left.
If you want to prolong the ride a bit, you can make the detour to the TV tower itself across the plateau, and you will have to follow the description of the first route (Varna - TV Tower 1 along the Right path) to point 23, where, however, instead of going down the path to the left, you should climb slightly along the path to the right to get out of this route in point 15.
Starting point: The parking lot of St. Marina Hospital, https://goo.gl/maps/twCezj5Dgx86i8Bv5
Length: 4.9 km
Ascent: 210 m
Level of technical difficulty: medium (R1, R2, T1, T2, T3,)
Physical activity factor: low (PAF =4.5)
Duration: 1 hour (depending on the velocity, breaks, etc.)
Water: 0.5 l
Food: not required
Terrain:
- asphalt road – 2.7 km
- country roads and paths – 2.2 km
Description:
There is a gas station at the eastern end of the parking lot of the hospital "St. Marina” (point 01). The route starts from here. The portal with barriers to the hospital yard is next door. We take Lazar Payakov Street, which goes around the hospital yard on the right, while moving north. At its end the street turns right at a fenced private property (p.02, 0.4 km). To the left (northwards) along the property there is a narrow path, along which after a hundred meters of riding or pushing we go out at a fountain on another street ("Georgi Kitov") in the villa zone - point 03. Here we take to the right and after another 150 m (point 04) we make a sharp turn to the left on Ivan Ivanov Street and continue the ascent through the villa zone (Sotira living quarter). We follow only the main street, skipping turns to the right in points 05, 06 and 07. The slope is serious, so in some places you may have to push.
At point 08 (1.5 km from the beginning of the route) we reach the last houses and the forest belt - here the street turns into a wide but rather steep path. Along this path we continue to climb to the plateau - by riding or pushing according to our abilities. At the fork in point 09 (2.0 km) we turn to the right.
Shortly afterwards, at point 10 (2.1 km) we go out at the crossroads and take the country road to the right. The terrain is already leveled. After another 50 m (point 11) we turn again to the right on a wide and flat path through a nice and shady forest. Soon you will see a beautiful place on the left where you can sit on the benches and relax. There are tables too. We follow only the main path (at the forks we keep to the left), which has red tourist and cycling markings, and in point 12 (2.6 km) we join a country road to the right. In another 50 m (point 13) we come out at a crossroads, where we take a wide shady path to the right in the forest, following the red markings again.
Only after a hundred meters (in point 14, 2.8 km) another path starts to the right in the forest, which splits immediately (point 15). We turn right and immediately turn right again (point 16), returning practically in the opposite direction through the forest to point 17 (2.9 km), where we take a path to the left (south). It is relatively narrow but clear, and its slope is light to moderate. In point 18 this path joins the main one ( the"Right") and following it we continue downwards.
At point 19 (3.5 km) the trail ends on a country road between private properties - on this road we turn right to Ivan Ivanov Street (point 07), on which we have previously climbed up, and descend back to the starting point through the villa area.
