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Central Balkan National Park

Services, facilities and contacts

Office location
National Park Directorate – Gabrovo 5300, 3, Bodra Smiana St., Bulgaria
7 local branch offices - Ribarica, Trojan, Stokite, Tuza, Kalofer, Karlovo, Klisura
Tel.: +359 66801 277, +359 66 801 279
Email: office@centralbalkan.bg
Website: http://www.centralbalkannationalpark.org

Trails
The park management has identified special routes for:

• specialized botany and nature interpretation
• mountain biking
• horseback riding
• cultural and historic treks
• winter ski and snowshoes trails

There are 670 km of hiking paths throughout the park. There is also the international trekking route E-3 that passes along the central ridge of the park. This route has one end at the Atlantic Ocean and the other at the Black Sea.
9 marked tourist routes start at the southern gateways, and another 16 marked hiking routes start in the northern side of the park.

Park facilities
The park has a well developed system of places for short rests, camping and bonfires, as well as many panoramic sites to help hikers enjoy their stay. The surrounding villages and towns offer a large number of small hotels, restaurants, and shops for the visitor. These provide opportunities for accommodation, meals and purchase of souvenirs, as well as for hiring guides and renting horses and bikes.
Presently there are 21 mountain huts with 1434 beds available, and four tourists’ shelters – small buildings with plank-beds. The prices vary between 3 and 10 BGL(lev)(1BGL – 0.5 EURO) per night. 18 of the huts are owned and managed by tourist societies, and several are leased.

Visitor centres
There are 5 information centres around the national park. Two of them operate especially as ecological education centres. They implement nature focused programs such as green schools, outdoors classes, eco-games, eco-competitions, the other three also offer tourist information.