You often visit Bansko because the town has a special atmosphere that you can’t find anywhere else. You like to visit it in all seasons. You love to walk through its winding streets, enjoy the unique cuisine of Bansko, explore the sights in the town and the surroundings, and most of all you like that you can indulge in total relaxation and various SPA procedures in one of the hotels in the town.
And now you are in Bansko or you plan to visit it very soon but you want this time to do something a little bit different… You want to make a short walk and explore the surroundings of the resort town and see some of the landmarks there, as well as to feel the real pulse of the mountain and enjoy with your own eyes the beauty of Pirin Mountain?
If this really is your wish, then we suggest you to make a one-day trip to the incredible waterfall Demyanishki Skok… and a little further from there.
Where is located the waterfall Demyanishki Skok?
Demyanishki Skok waterfall is located next to Demyanitsa River. It is situated at height of 1750 meters, its waters fall from 11 meters in height, and it was declared a natural landmark in 1965.
How to get to the waterfall?
If you are in Bansko you have to leave the town and take in the direction of Vihren hut. Drive carefully and look for information boards (don’t worry, they are many). About 3 kilometers from the town you will see the road to Demyanitsa village. Once you see it, drive in the direction of the hut and after a few kilometers you will reach a fountain and near it you will see an information board indicating the path of the tourist route „Demyanitsa River tells…”
You can park your car somewhere around, put your backpack on your back and your walk to Demyanishki skok waterfall may start right now.
The path that leads to the waterfall is relatively wide and very pleasant for a walk, so even if you are with small children, the walk won’t be difficult. There is almost no displacement and, as we mentioned the walking is very pleasant, and the fact that with every step the forest bcomes even more beautiful is just another bonus for your trip.
As the path follows the stream of Demyanitsa River, it is not a surprise that Demyanishki skok waterfall won’t be the only waterfall along the route, right? So expect in about 30 – 40 minutes to reach the first waterfall of Demyanitsa River – Yulenski skok waterfall.
The waterfall is located at a height of 1650 meters, and its waters fall in the gully of the river from height of 9 – 10 meters. The view is really incredible and it is worth taking a bit of your time to enjoy this unique natural landmark.
There are nice places to rest near the waterfall, so if you have something to eat, the place is ideal for a short break to recharge the „batteries”.
After the short break, you pass Yulen skok and continue walking along the path and soon you will get to Demyanishka polyana, and after it you will reach your final destination – Demyanishki skok waterfall.
Although the approach to it is heavily overgrown with vegetation and is difficult to get there, the waterfall is impressive with its wild, sparkling waters that go down, gently caressing every rock on their way to finally fall with deafening thunder in the waters of Demyanitsa River.
Here you can stay as much as you want and enjoy the unique natural landmark, which is located just a few kilometers away from the town of Bansko.
You reached the waterfall and now what?
One of your options is just to go back to the hotel and relax the entire day by the pool of the hotel or… Or you can continue your walk to Demyanitsa hut.
If you choose the second option, you simply have to continue along the path following the blue marking and after about a kilometer (15 – 20 minutes) you will get to Demyanitsa hut.
Here you can relax and have a meal, and if you decide that you liked the walk and you want more, you can continue and spend the night there, as on the next day you can start walking to the new challenge – walk from Demyanitsa hut to Tevno Lake.
Demyanitsa hut is located at an altitude of 1891 meters. It was built in 1931 with money and donations from the tourist company of the town of Bansko. Nowadays, apart from the main building of the hut, there are also bungalows built.
The walk from the beginning of the path at Todorova Ornitsa area to the hut (round trip is about 4 hours).
Demyanitsa hut – Tevno Lake tourist route
We know that we said that we will tell you how to get to Demyanishki skok waterfall, but as we are sure that many of you will like the walk and you will want to continue your trip through the beautiful places of Pirin Mountain, we decided to introduce you to another interesting tourist destination, which you may like to explore.
And so… Demyanitsa hut – Tevno Lake
This is one of the most popular tourist routes and it starts from Todorova Ornitsa area, which is located about 8 kilometers away from the town of Bansko. We won’t describe the route in details because to Demyanitsa hut the path is the same as to Demyanishki Skok waterfall.
Therefore we start from Demyanitsa hut and continue to one of the most beautiful lakes in Pirin Mountain – the Tevno Lake.
From the hut you have to follow the path and the blue marking. You will enter the forest where you can enjoy the numerous and varied tree and plant species, you will see green meadows covered entirely with flowers and very soon an incredibly beautiful view to the whole valley will reveal before your eyes.
Every tourist will remain speechless at least for a few minutes when he sees this unique beauty…
Still enchanted by the sights, you have to continue walking on the path, but be very careful, because the marking disappears in some places and there is a danger to lose the right direction. If you can’t see the marking, look for small stone pyramids – if you see them, then you are on the right track and you can safely continue ahead.
As you climb up the path becomes steeper and rocky, so make sure you are with comfortable shoes and warm clothes. After about 30 – 40 minutes you will reach Prevalskite Lakes where you can rest for a bit.
The Prevalski Lakes are a group of four lakes that are located in the Preval cirques between the peaks of Valyavishki chukar (2664 meters) and Prevalski chukar (2605 meters) and Mozgovishka porta col and Chairska prevala.
The walk continues through Mozgovisha porta, and during the entire trip you have to follow the marking. The climbing is steep, in some places you have to overcome moraines and the track may be quite slippery, so be very careful.
At the Mozgovishka porta, the path with blue marking leading to Tevno Lake intersects with the red marking of the Vihren hut but don’t worry – both of them will take you to the Tevno Lake shelter.
Once you pass through the Mozgovisha porta, there is a short downhill, then you will see the shelter of Tevno Lake.
Tevno Lake is one of the most beautiful alpine lakes not only in Pirin Mountain, but also in the Balkans. It is located at an altitude of 2515 meters in the foot of Valyavishki chukar peak and Momin Dvor peak, as Tevno Lake is also the biggest lake in the lake group of Belemeto cirque.
The area of the lake is 65 acres and its depth is about 4 meters. Close to the lake is located one of the most popular shelters, which is visited all year round by the tourists – the Tevno Lake shelter.
We thought we should stop here, but the story of Tevno Lake won’t be complete if we don’t tell you the legend of its unusual name.
So the legend is as follows… Many, many years ago there was a girl who loved to come by the lake and just look at it. Once she looked in the waters of the lake and wished her eyes to become as blue as the waters of the lake.
The next morning, as she opened her eyes, she saw that her wish was fulfilled and her eyes were blue as the waters of a lake. The girl was very happy but she didn’t express her gratitude to the lake, and instead she wished her hair to become golden like the rays of the Sun. The lake fulfilled this wish and her hair became golden. She was so happy again, but there was no gratitude, she just kept wanting more and more.
Then the lake became angry because of the ungrateful girl and its waters got dark due to the rage. Since then it is called Tevno Lake (dark lake).
The walk from Demyanitsa hut to Tevno Lake is about 3 hours in one direction.
If you want to see the sunrise at Tevno Lake, you can spend the night in the shelter, which is maybe the most popular shelter in the entire Pirin Mountain. But keep in mind that the shelter is with a capacity of 30 people and due to the fame of this route, it can be fully.
If you have enough experience in mountain hikes, you can go all the way from the beginning of the path and see Demyanishki Skok waterfall, then reach Demyanitsa hut and finally get to Tevno Lake, all this within one day.
However, we recommend you to split your walk in two, as the first day you can enjoy the waterfalls and go to Demyanitsa hut, and on the next day you can continue with refreshed energy to Tevno Lake.
Near Bansko you can see also a lot of other natural landmarks, as some of them are very popular, other – not so much, but there is always something more to see, something worth seeing now or the next time you come in Bansko.