| Area name: | Korab mountain |
| Country: | MK |
| Date of the ride: | 14-Aug-2011 |
| Length (km): | 33.3 |
| Elevation gain (m): | 1460 |
| Technical difficulty: | ●●●● |
| | Elevation profile | Map | GPS tracklog | Photo Gallery of the route | |
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| Carriageway section |
MTB route Golem Korab / Maja e Korabit - The peak of Macedonia & Albania is situated in National Park Mavrovo in Macedonia. Golem Korab (Albanian: Maja e Korabit) peak is situated on Korab mountain just at the border line between Macedonia and Albania. The peak is the highest elevation point of both countries at 2764 meters over the sea level. The ascent section of the route is placed on very steep carriageway and singletrack. Count to hike with the bike at least 50% of total ascent section. The trail is dry and rocky. Due to many unlabeled junctions the GPS unit with the uploaded route is a must for fast and safe navigation. The attached GPS tracklog includes the waypoints of the springs of the water.
Getting there: Europe, Macedonia, Skopje, Mavrovo. At the labeled junction on the paved road Mavrovo - Debar turn right and proceed on the unpaved road along Radika river canyon to police hut Pobeda. The starting point is near police hut Pobeda.
Description of MTB route
The starting point of MTB mountain bike route is in National Park Mavrovo near police hut Pobeda. From the hut proceed to the south west course on the steep and rocky carriageway. Follow the provided GPS tracklog. In few turns the carriageway leads to the section out of forest. Pass near the shepherds' hut and proceed on the carriageway to the south course. The carriageway crosses with few streams and in the neighborhood there are few springs of the water . At elevation of 1800meters follows the descent to 1700meters and than the carriageway leads to the next shepherds hut. Pass near the hut and proceed to ascend on the carriageway. The carriageway ends near the ruins of the military hut. Proceed on the hard visible and very rocky singletrack to north west course. After few kilometers the singletrack crosses with the labeled hiking trail coming from police hut Pobeda. Proceed on the labeled hiking trail to Golem Korab peak. The peak is situated on the border line between Macedonia and Albania. From the peak I rode back to police hut Pobeda on the same trail. Check below video for more details about downhill section.
Video - Downhill section from Korab peak to Pobeda Hut
MTB ride on Korab mountain from Miroslav Maric on Vimeo.
Best time for ride: August, September.
Due to many unlabeled junctions the GPS unit with the uploaded route is a must for fast and safe navigation. The most of the sections of my route are not placed on the labeled hiking trail (Pobeda - Korab). I avoided downhill ride on the labeled hiking trail because there were many hikers on the trail. Due to much steeper ascent the labeled hiking trail is not suitable for the ride in direction from Pobeda to Golem Korab. Take the passport.
Comments
The above image is the photo of Albanian side taken from Maja e Korabit peak. The bright strip is not the road! During communism, the Albanian border patrol had a task to shoot anyone who crosses the line. The line is situated on Albanian side about 1km far from the official border line. On the peak I met with Albanian TV crew and Aleksander B. who told me the story.
During last few years the trails to the peak are opened to both sides and hikers can climb free to the peak. As far as I could see at least the shepherds pass the border line without passport control :).
Nisi ništa napisao o šarplanincima. Ima li ih i kakvi su?
Nećeš valjda bicklom na Triglav i Bobotov kuk
Ne zadovoljavaju! Onaj prvi nije najviši vrh CG, a na onom drugom je prevelika gužva
Na Korabu na cijeloj pl. stazi se uredno rasporedilo cca 30 čeških planinara tako da sam odustao od korištenja cijele planinarske staze za spust. Samo vršni dio je zajednički sa mojom trasom i na vrhu sam sačekao da se maknu sa tog dijela. Za to vrijeme sam časkao sa albanskom TV ekipom koja je snimala reportažu o Korabu na samom vrhu. Donijeli su kameru od cca 10kg i pravu profi. opremu. Oni snimaju intervju a ja dolazim iznenada u kadar sa biciklom. Bilo je smijeha
Pozdrav.
Neko vrijeme su je zvali i karaula Pobeda, naziv Strežimir je bio po onom selu par km prije nje. Koliko sam vidio sada karaulu koristi samo policija, vojsku nisam vidio. Policija je sada u selu Strežimir. Karaula će biti u funkciji koncem 9. mjeseca. Do prije neku godinu trebalo je odobrenje za odlazak na Korab i pograničnu liniju. Sada je slobodno. Ostali su visoko na grebenu samo ostaci pojedinih karaula. Grebenska staza za graničare postoji i sada i bilo bi ju jako dobro održavati za potrebe planinarenja. Volio bih to obići, staza je duž cijele granice sa Albanijom, a kako mi se čini i sa Grčkom. Zaista atraktivan prostor za hodanje/vožnju. Iako taj Korab zbog visine izgleda zastrašujuće ova tura nije teška, uspon se obavi u cca 3 sata efektivne vožnje/hodanje. Pejzaži su lijepi, Korab sa svojim šiljastim vrhovima oko Malog Koraba razbija monotoniju ogromnih pašnjaka. Što se tiče ispaše, albanska strana je puno aktivnija i zbog gužve na njihovoj strani stada i pastiri tijekom dana prelaze na makedonsku stranu i tamo koriste pašnjake. Ova 3 dječaka - pastira koji gledaju moj bicikl na gornjoj slici su debelo na makedonskoj strani a inače su iz sela Radomira/Albanija.
This image is very nice: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=146554908749122&set=a.146554635415816.36743.146538018750811&type=1&theater
Where is this place?
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