Hiking trails and national parks in East Serbia

Published: June 30, 2022

hiking | national parks | nature | trail running | trails

Serbia in the Balkans, in South-East Europe, is a wonderful destination for outdoor enthusiasts and active travelers, who want to explore the nature as a part of their holiday. For most of the visitors, the lively capital city Belgrade is the starting point for a trip in Serbia, and from there it’s easy to travel elsewhere in the country. However, to explore the national parks and remote corners of Serbia, using just public transportation can be a bit tricky, or in some cases even a mission impossible. The best option for independent travelers is to have their own wheels – own car, a rental, maybe a motorbike, or bicycle. There are also several tour companies offering organized, guided hiking trips. In this post we shortly introduce some beautiful outdoor destinations in eastern Serbia, that we visited in May 2022, and list some essential gear for day treks and longer hikes.

Djerdap National Park and Veliki Strbac Peak

Our first hiking, or for us actually trail running, destination in Serbia was Djerdap National Park, in the northeastern part of Serbia, by the Danube river, on the border of Romania. The national park spreads across the surface of almost 64 hectares, along a 100 km stretch of the right bank of the Danube, from Golubac to Karatas. Djerdap National Park also is a UNESCO global geopark, and it’s known for dramatic, deep river gorges and cliffs, that can be admired from several scenic viewpoints.

There are several trails in Djerdap National Park, out of which we chose the climb up on top of Veliki Štrbac, the highest peak of Miroč mountain, that is part of the Iron Gate gorge of the Danube river. The views on top of the peak are simply amazing! Most of the visitors only walk the first couple of kilometers of the trail to Ploče viewpoint (Vidikovac Ploče) on the side of the mountain, but pushing on all the way to the top is well worth the effort!

The hike up on top of the peak is marked and easy to follow, even if at times it is quite steep (especially if you are trail running). There are some parking places in the trail head (Vidikovac Ploče – Parking i ulaz in Google Maps), and there is also a ranger station, where you should buy an entrance ticket (250 dinars, roughly 2,2 €) to the national park. In case there is no-one there, you simply pay when/if you’ll see a ranger during the day (keep some cash with you), or you could contact the national park administration already beforehand. For staying overnight close to the trails, we chose Camping Asin, a very nice small camping site close to Dobra village, 18 kilometers east from Golubac.

Lazarev Kanjon offers amazing views

Lazar’s Gorge (Lazarev Kanjon), located close to the small mining town of Bor, is a roughly 9 kilometers long, steep river canyon. The walls of the gorge are 300-500 meters high, offering some magnificent cliff views. Lazar’s Gorge is also famous for several long caves, of which the Lazareva Pećina, Lazar’s Cave, is the best known.

Exploring the canyon is quite challenging, since there is a river flowing through it and there are a lot of big rocks and fallen trees to be climbed over (and in the summer a lot of snakes too!). The best time to hike in the bottom of the canyon would be in autumn, when the river is dry. However, it’s also possible to hike or trail run along the canyon above it, like we did, and there are some amazing viewpoints up on the cliffs. We left our car in the parking lot of the Lazar’s Cave, and headed to the trails on the south side of the canyon. The straightest path up (from behind the motel / restaurant by the suspension bridge next to the parking lot) was steep and quite overgrown, so it’s better option to circumnavigate slightly further south, following the dirt roads.

After a roughly 6 km hike along the dirt roads, you’ll reach the best viewpoints on the south side of the canyon. Up there, in the middle of beautiful meadows, is also a beautiful, family-owned hut and a restaurant Domaćinstvo Mustecić. We didn’t have any cash with us, so couldn’t stop for their home-made lunch or a beer, but the place looked very lovely, and would be a great stop along a hiking day.

Waterfall hike in Stara Planina National Park

When visiting Stara Planina national park in south-eastern Serbia, our aim was to hike from Topli Do village to the top of Midžor, the highest peak of the Western Balkan Mountains (2 169 m) on the border between Serbia and Bulgaria. Topli Do is a tiny, sleepy village in the middle of the mountains, meadows, valleys and waterfalls of Stara Planina. The road to the village is winding, narrow and partly in poor condition, but the drive up was rewarded with beautiful views.

To our disappointment there were thunderstorms and heavy rains during our visit, so we needed to change the plan and leave the high peaks for the next time. Instead of a whole-day hike, we made a 10-kilometer trail run to one of the many waterfalls of the area. It was a sweaty run in the middle of lush green nature. The Donji Pilj waterfall itself was impressive too, with total height of around 65 meters.

Mysterious Rtanj Mountain

Rtanj is a mysterious, pyramid-shaped mountain, and for many a sacred place. There are a lot of legends and rumors related to Rtanj – some say that under the surface there actually is an ancient pyramid, the others think that it was created by nature and the third opinion is that it’s a work of a higher power, or aliens. In any case, there is said to be sort of a special energy on the mountain, and there are herbs, allegedly with some healing powers, that only grow on the slopes of Rtanj. Rtanj Tea is a popular hot drink made of some of the endemic herbs of the mountain.

Siljak peak (1565 m), the highest point of Rtanj, is a popular hiking and mountaineering destination. In the summer season the hike on top is possible without any special equipment, but on winter the conditions up on the snow-topped mountain can be dangerous. In addition to wonderful views, there are ruins of a chapel on top of the mountain. It was built in honor of the late owner of the Rtanj mine in 1935. We unfortunately didn’t have time to hike on the summit of Rtanj this time, but drove past it on our way to Niš. It truly is a beautiful mountain, that rises very suddenly from the plains around it.

When to go and what pack for hiking in Serbia?

It’s possible to travel and also hike in Serbia around the year, but in general spring and autumn are the best times, especially for any hikes in higher elevations. The winters in the mountain areas can be harsh and very snowy, and hikes on top of mountain peaks during the winter require special gear and some experience for sure. Summers are sunny and beautiful, but it can be very hot from June to August, which can make especially longer hikes very tiring. On the other hand, in early summer the weather can be very unpredictable, with thunderstorms and heavy rains. The best months for mountainous hikes are September and October, and also May can be super nice, with wildflowers and warm, sunny days.

For multi-day hikes in the mountain areas, it’s often possible to book accommodation in the villages or in the so-called mountain homes of local hiking clubs. In addition, camping in general has become more popular, and the amount of camping sites has increased. In some cases they are well equipped and nice, in some cases just a yard of a villager, with very simple facilities. Independent hikers should know that wild camping is not officially allowed in Serbia, but done responsibly during a hike, short-term camping is well tolerated. If you plan to hike in a national park area, check beforehand whether camping is forbidden, and plan your route and camping spots accordingly.

For both one day treks and long-distance hikes, it’s very important to have a good backpack. For carrying all camping gear and food in long-distance hikes, we use big ~65 liter backpacks. For day treks we just recently bought a smaller and inexpensive, but still well-equipped backpack from the selection of Addnature, a Swedish outdoor equipment online store that delivers around Europe. We also updated our tent to a light-weight version to make long-distance mountain hikes easier on our backs and knees – the previous tent weighted maybe 4 kilos, and the new one is just 1,5 kilos, which is a big difference when doing a mountainous hike.

In addition to a weather resistant tent, you’ll then of course also need a sleeping pad and a sleeping back for overnight hikes. For wild camping, you should also have a torch, a small shovel for making a toilet, a camping stove and fuel for it, a cooking pot and dishes, matches and a first aid kit. And food and water of course, as well as enough clothes to keep you warm and dry. In addition, don’t forget a hat and sunscreen, a map and some sort of a GPS device and/or phone with needed (offline) maps. We always use GPS watches and plan our routes in them before our hikes and runs, so it’s easy to stay on planned path even if there are no trail marks.

This post was done in collaboration with Addnature.

Addnature is an Internetstores brand. From the company’s locations in Stuttgart, Berlin, Lyon and Stockholm, it operates various online and offline specialist dealers for cycling and outdoor activities throughout Europe.

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