Rhodope Mountain Range

Hiking-Trekking, Waterfalls, Mountains, Thermal Springs, Forest

Steep valley covered in dark green conifers mixed with trees in orange and red autumn leaves, with forested ridges behind — Forest in autumn colours, RhodopeSource: PLatsoudis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Rhodope is a wide range of forested mountains on the border between Greece and Bulgaria. The Greek side runs through the north of Macedonia and Thrace, above the towns of Drama, Xanthi and Komotini. Visitors come here for the forests. Spruce, pine, birch and beech cover most of the ground, and bears live in them. The best-known places are Frakto, an old forest under strict protection, and the Livaditis waterfall, which drops about 60 metres. The Nestos River cuts through the range. In the valleys north of Xanthi are the villages of the Pomaks, a Muslim community of the mountains, and the hot springs of Thermes. Most of the central range is a national park.

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Geography

The Rhodope range lies across the border between Greece and Bulgaria. It is about 240 kilometres long from west to east and about 100 kilometres wide, and more than four fifths of it is in Bulgaria. The Greek part is the southern side of the range. It runs through the regional units of Drama, Xanthi and Rodopi, in the north of the country.

The highest peak of the whole range, at 2,191 metres, is in Bulgaria. The highest point on the Greek side is Delimposka, at 1,953 metres, in the Frakto forest near the border. The Nestos River comes down from Bulgaria and cuts through the range on its way to the sea. The central part of the Greek Rhodope, between the border and the Nestos, covers about 2,000 square kilometres, and forest covers more than four fifths of it. Mount Falakro, near the town of Drama, is described on its own page.

Mountain with snow on its upper slopes and dark forest lower down, above a flat plain with a village — Mount Papikio in winter, Rhodope Source: Ggia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Aerial view of the Rhodope Mountain Range Image source: BuhaM / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Nestos river widening into a lake beside the village of Potamoi, among forested hills, seen from high on Mount Falakro — Potamoi and the Nestos from Mount Falakro Source: Atanas Kumbarov, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Calm dark water reflecting white clouds, between low hills covered in green forest — Nestos River near Livadero, Rhodope Source: Eleftherios Mylothridis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nature & Outdoors

People come to the Rhodope for its forests. Trees of northern Europe grow here that are rare in the rest of Greece: Norway spruce, Scots pine and silver birch, with beech lower down. Most of the central range has been a national park since 2009, with an area of about 1,730 square kilometres. Brown bears, wolves and chamois live in it, and the capercaillie, a large forest bird, breeds here.

Frakto

Frakto is a forest in the north-east of the Drama area, on the border. Its oldest part has been under strict protection since 1980. A barrier closes the road into that part, and only researchers go in. Visitors walk a short path to a viewpoint at its edge, and marked paths lead to the waterfalls of Achladorema.

Haidou and the Livaditis waterfall

Haidou is a beech forest in the mountains near the village of Stavroupoli, in the Xanthi area. The waterfall near the village of Livaditis drops about 60 metres. A forest road of about seven kilometres and a short path through the beech trees lead to it.

Close view of a chamois with curved black horns, standing among pine branches — Balkan chamois in the Frakto forest Source: Alexandros Gassios, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Waterfall dropping between two large rocks into a shallow pool, with a tree trunk in the foreground — Waterfall in the Frakto forest Source: Stefmanous, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Inside a dense forest of tall thin trees with bright green leaves, with red-brown fallen leaves on the ground — Beech trees in the Haidou forest Source: Athanasiospapatheodorou, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tall waterfall dropping down a dark rock face into a pool, seen through green leaves, with boulders in the foreground — Livaditis waterfall, Rhodope Source: Nikos Kadianakis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Villages & Inland

North of the town of Xanthi, the valleys of the Rhodope hold the villages of the Pomaks. The Pomaks are a Muslim community who speak a Slavic dialect and who lived apart from the lowlands for a long time. Echinos is the largest of these villages and has two old mosques. In the village of Medousa a stone bridge with two arches crosses the river.

Thermes has hot springs. The water comes out at between 29 and 53 degrees Celsius, and visitors bathe in open-air pools and in a bath house.

Stavroupoli is a village on low hills beside the Nestos River. It was a centre of the tobacco trade until the 1970s. It is the usual base for the Haidou forest and the Livaditis waterfall.

Village of houses with red roofs built closely together on a hillside, with white gravestones of a Muslim cemetery on the grass in front — Echinos village, Rhodope Source: Ggia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

White houses with red tiled roofs along a shallow rocky river, with the minaret of a mosque in the distance — Medousa village beside the river, Rhodope Source: Ggia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Square pool of green water with steam above it and a thin jet of water falling into it, inside a simple shelter — Open-air pool at the Thermes hot springs Source: Ggia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Stone-paved square with large trees and cafe tables in the middle, low buildings around it and a red car parked at the side — Village square, Stavroupoli Source: DocWoKav, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Practical information

Rhodope Mountain Range:

Getting there

Each part of the range is reached from a different town. For Frakto, drive from the town of Drama to the village of Paranesti and on to the forest, about 92 kilometres in all. For the Haidou forest and the Livaditis waterfall, drive from the town of Xanthi to the village of Stavroupoli. The Pomak villages and the hot springs of Thermes are in the valleys north of Xanthi.

Good to know

The last 18 kilometres to Frakto are a dirt road. An ordinary car can drive most of it, but some parts are rough. Fill the tank before you leave, because there is no petrol station near the forest. The oldest part of Frakto is closed to visitors. A forest village near it takes guests in summer and autumn by arrangement with the forestry office of Drama. Bears live in these forests.

When to go

Frakto is easiest to visit from the middle of July to November, when the forest station there is working. The forest village near it takes guests in the same months. The Livaditis waterfall often freezes in winter. In early spring, ice breaks off the rock beside it, so do not stand close to the fall then.

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