Rilska Skakavitza 2026

As was forecast, Friday yesterday was the last of the hot summer days this year and we simply had to make the most of it. Rilska Skakavitza - the highest of the Rila waterfalls, is one of our favourite hikes, with the timeless beauty of the Skakavitza river valley, so the choice was easy.

As promised, the day was sunny and warm, perfect for the higher mountains. The trail is very popular and overcrowded on weekends, but this Friday it was quite tolerably frequented by just a handful of tourists.

We had a short stop at the Skakavitza lodge, with a small power snack, filled our water bottles with cold spring water and continued to the waterfall.

Hike info:

Destination: Rilska Skakavitza Waterfalls

Mountain: Rila

Total length: 13.5 km

Elevation gain: 585 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 5 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 4.5 / 10 

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda cargo pants, Burda grey hoodie

I: lingerie, Burda color jeans, Burda raglan blouse

The whole valley of the river at the foot of the waterfall was abundant with ripe raspberries, which made our progress towards the waterfall quite slow and sporadic :)

We decided to have our lunch up on the ledge above the valley, like last year. The seating was comfortable, the view, of course, spectacular and the tortillas and jam-filled muffins - delicious as always. The blueberry bushes we discovered last year, were loaded with the biggest wild blueberries we've seen during our hikes, so we quickly filled our boxes with ripe fruit to be turned into blueberry crumbles and pies soon.

After descending from the waterfall, we spotted by the raspberry bushes on the other side of the river. Husband had a quick raspberry snack, while I sat on a stone in the middle of the river and had a quiet moment with the falling water and welcome sunshine warmth.

We returned to the car along the winding alternative trail, as we've been doing for the last several times we've hiked this route.

Rilska Skakavitza 2025

One of our most favourite places - the valley of Skakavitza river in the Rila mountains and the big waterfall at the end of the valley. We hike here almost every year and it is always a fulfilling and at the same time different experience.

Yesterday was Saturday and August, so by definition the place was packed, unlike last year, when we hiked mid-July on a Friday and we were almost the only people for the entire 13 km of the hike. The day was warm, but cloudy, very pleasant for a hike in the high mountains.

I haven't posted lately about sewing, because I haven't done much lately, but in these pictures you can see my latest make - a pair of mid-calf leggings by Love Notions. The pattern is free, intended for children up to 14 years old and I've long ago found out that the largest children size fits me perfectly and I prefer them to the adult legging patterns I have.

Hike info:

Destination: Rilska Skakavitza Waterfalls

Mountain: Rila

Total length: 13 km

Elevation gain: 585 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 5 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 4 / 10 

The valley of Skakavitza river was at its best - green and colorful and full of flowers.

We climbed up the waterfall to a terrace in the mountain wall and had our lunch there, overlooking the valley.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxer shorts, Burda hoodie, Burda blouse

I: lingerie, Love Notions LDT tunic, Love Notions joggings

Our lunch place. We found a small plantation of big ripe blueberries, growing there and picked a small box for a couple of blueberry cream cakes.

For our return back we chose the long alternative trail through the forest, where we picked another small box of berries - this time raspberries. Lots of berry cream cakes in our nearest future :)

Rilska Skakavitza 2024

The valley of Rilska Skakavitza river is one of those places in Rila, that we love to visit at least once a year. The trail is not very difficult, its length is average and the scenery is always breathtaking. And as always with nature - it is different every time. This time it was empty - absolutely shockingly empty- there was no one at the waterfalls in the middle of summer but us! Probably because it was a work day and these are also days of extreme heat in Bulgaria and people were maybe cautious to go out, but the fact is, that there were very few people along the way and none at the waterfalls. On the other hand, there were no raspberries - it is still a bit early for them in the high mountains, so we'll have to wait a bit for the wild berry gorging during our summer hikes.

Despite the hot day, the air at 2000 m was actually quite pleasant, and we could even have our picnic in the open without burning alive :)

Rilska Skakavitza lodge - we had a quick power snack here and refilled our water bottles, before we continued to the waterfall.

Hike info:

Destination: Rilska Skakavitza Waterfalls

Mountain: Rila

Total length: 13 km

Elevation gain: 585 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 5 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 4 / 10 

Rilska Skakavitza river

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxer shorts, Burda cargo pants, Burda blouse

I: lingerie, Love Notions LDT tunic

At this altitude the valleys are still luscious green and abundant with flowers

As usual, we climbed up the trail to approx. one third of the height of the waterfalls

As is our tradition, we had our prolonged picnic on the rocks right in the middle of the river, surrounded by its cool spray and rumble. There's nothing more refreshing like cooling your tired feet in the ice cold waters of a mountain creek.

An unexpected and a bit disturbing encounter - a viper on the path. Husband carefully removed it aside in the grass with the help of the hiking sticks and we continued without any accidents. However, I should mention, that to my astonishment, it was not at all scared of us and didn't try to run away, but rather seemed a bit annoyed and aggressive.