Adventures and excitement in Vrachan Mountain



The Vrachan Mountain is situated about 100km north of Sofia. The Belogradchik Rocks, the Ledenika cave and the Vrattsata pass are only some of its landmarks which attract tourists to this part of the country. Who would have guessed that precisely in Vrachan Mountain one could play bowling much the same way they did in the cartoon series The Flintstones – tracks, balls and skittles made entirely out of wood, stone and ropes? And there’s more.



There are about 10 different adventures expecting those who’ve come to visit the Tale adventure-park situated a few kilometers outside the town of Vratsa. There’s paintball, bow shooting, mini-golf and horse riding – plenty of activities to make one immerse in the local environment of the surrounding woods. Tihomir Oprov is the manager of the park and he says more about one particular attraction called ‘the crazy bike’:
“The crazy bike is my own invention. It follows a designated track and it is made in such a way that when one wants to turn left, the bike turns right and the other way round. It’s very hard to ride such a bike that’s why we give away prizes to those who succeed in reaching the final within five trials and no stepping on the ground. It’s so much fun.”



There are a lot of exciting games in the park as well such as wall-climbing or the bungee pendulum. There are two eco-trails offering adventures. More about them from Tihomir Oprov:
“One of the eco-trails leads directly to the bottom of Borov Kamak waterfall. It’s very beautiful there. Also, there are several caves around and with the held of trained cavers and sufficient supply of ropes, tourists can go inside some of them. In one of the caves there is the mouth of an underground river. To get inside, one needs to descend about 10 meters by rope. To reach another cave one needs to go in a small boat and cross a lake. Inside that cave, one will find an amazing underground waterfall.

The park has become very popular with companies for organizing team-building events. Actually companies from all over the country, send teams of their employees there. Tihomir Oprov explains that trained psychologists create special programs in accord with the main activities of the given company. For the paintball course, there are people coming even from Sofia. More about the park from Mr. Oprov:
“We’ve organized rafting down Iskar River – two kayaks for about 12 people and a stretch of about 10km. Rock climbing is also very popular here. Alpinists from across the country come to train at the nature phenomenon called Vrattsata. There’s also paragliding from the Okolchitsa peak. There are instructors and paragliding with them is possible and very safe for visitors. Additionally, there’s horse riding and culture tourism with an experienced guide, professional historian, who takes visitors to local museums.”



The Тale adventure-park shows to a full extent the charm of the Vrachan Mountain and its pristine nature. Park manager Tihomir Oprov shares one of his ambitions for the future:

“We also want our visitors to be able to stay over for the night in the park. Since everything here is so unusual we have several ideas about building hotels merging with the local environment. We are thinking of pile dwellings connected with ropes but fully furnished inside,” says Tihomir Oprov in conclusion.