ROUTE: FROM SUNNY GARDEN PARK/TOWN MONTANA TO OGOSTA DAM AND BACK

The described route is a nice opportunity to go with electric bikes. The route is suitable for moderately advanced.
The length of the route is about 8 kilometers with 325 meters of positive displacement. The route starts from the Sunny Garden in town of Montana and goes on earth roads with wonderful panoramic views of Ogosta dam and West Balkan with its lraders – Kom peak, Kopren peak, Midzhur peak.

The starting point of the route is the “Sunny Garden” park in the town of Montana.
The park is located in the central part of the town at the foot of the Diana locality and close to Montanezium Park. The town of Montana is 110 km away from the city of Sofia, through the Petrohan Pass and 150 km through the Hemus motorway. It is located on the E79 international road. The town can be reached by car, bus, train, bicycle and on foot.

The route passes along the bank of the dam, which is the fourth largest in area and second largest dam in Bulgaria. The water catchment area has an area of 948 km2 and the dam itself occupies an area of 23.6 km. The average annual water mass is 384 million m3 and the total volume is 506 million m3. The locals call it the Montana Sea because of the feeling of space created by the vast water surface. The dam is a favorite place for fishermen and water sports enthusiasts such as windsurfing, boating and jets. Three rivers flow into the dam – Ogosta, Burzia and Zlatitsa.
The construction of the dam has an interesting history. It lasts 20 years and ends in 1986. Two villages remain under its waters, whose inhabitants are displaced in Montana and Berkovitsa. These are: the village of Zhivovtsi, where were born the writer and artist Ivan Davidkov and the poet, writer and journalist Anastas Stoyanov and the village of Kalimanitsa, the native village of the writer Yordan Radichkov.