The Fotinski Waterfalls

The Fotinski Waterfalls are a beautiful, full-flowing cascade of three waterfalls located in the Western Rhodope Mountains. Each drop ranges between 7 and 17 meters in height. To reach them, one must first get to the village of Fotinovo, located about 20 km southeast of Batak. The road to the village is paved and in good condition.

On Sunday, we had a slow morning again and started packing up, as we needed to check out of the guest house around noon. Some members of our group decided to cycle around Shiroka Polyana Reservoir — a ride I had already done Friday evening, so I sat it out. (You can read more about our cycling tour of the Shiroka Polyana and Golyam Beglik )

While waiting for the others, we visited the campsite to say goodbye to the rest of our friends. The mood there wasn’t very lively — apparently a summer virus had gone around, and some of them had been unwell the day before. Some of us also felt a bit off, and we started wondering whether the tripe soup from the previous day was to blame.

After the cyclists returned, we loaded up the bikes and sat down for a beer to decide what to do next. The group split — four of us headed to the Fotinski Waterfalls, while the rest drove straight back to Blagoevgrad. We quickly reached Fotinovo and left the cars at the edge of the village, near a solar park. From there, it’s a 3 km dirt road hike with a 185-meter descent (which, of course, becomes an uphill return). This descent doesn’t include the steep trail leading down to the waterfalls, which requires careful footing.

First, the path drops to the upper (first) waterfall. After seeing it, you climb back to a fork in the trail and descend again toward the second and third waterfalls. The drop to the first waterfall is about 30 meters, and the trail to the lower two adds another 55 meters.

Despite it being mid-July, the waterfalls were still flowing strongly, and the river valley offered a welcome break from the heat. The second waterfall is the tallest at 17 meters, followed by the first (7 meters) and the third (6 meters).

After a brief but refreshing visit, it was time to hike back up to the cars — not too steep, but long enough to be tiring. Time was getting on, and we still had many kilometers to cover before reaching Blagoevgrad. We passed through Batak and Velingrad on the way home, arriving just as dusk was settling in.