Dalgopol, Bulgaria: Tsonevo reservoir, the Wonderful Rocks and the Kamchia valleys

Dalgopol (Дългопол) is the hilly, forested corner of Varna Province where the plains end and the Eastern Balkan begins: a small town about 73 km west of Varna by road, a long reservoir on the Luda Kamchia and, on its shore, the limestone needles of the Wonderful Rocks. The town is the centre of a municipality of about 441 km² and 17 settlements (Wikipedia (BG)). It is not a resort, and there is little visitor infrastructure, but it is the best landscape day out in the province, and the railway runs right through it.

Where is Dalgopol?

The municipality fills the south-western corner of Varna Province. Provadia lies to the north, Dolni Chiflik to the east, Ruen (Burgas Province) to the south and Smyadovo (Shumen Province) to the west. Its land straddles three regions: the easternmost spurs of the Varbitsa and the westernmost spurs of the Kamchia mountains of the Eastern Stara Planina in the south, the Fore-Balkan hills in the west and the southern slopes of the Royak plateau in the north. The highest point, 563 m, rises south-west of Polyatsite (Wikipedia (BG)).

Two rivers shape it. The Golyama Kamchia flows west to east through the middle, and the Luda Kamchia (“wild Kamchia”) comes down from the Balkan in the south through a deep gorge. They meet south of Velichkovo and form the Kamchia, which flows on to the Black Sea south of Varna (Wikipedia (BG)).

The town itself was called Novo Selo (Yeni Köy in Turkish) until 1934 and became a town in 1969 (Wikipedia (BG)).

The Wonderful Rocks: the main reason to come

The municipality’s biggest attraction is Chudnite Skali, the Wonderful Rocks, on the right bank of Tsonevo reservoir in the land of Asparuhovo. About ten rock needles rise 15 and 40–50 m high, shaped by wind and by the Luda Kamchia cutting into soft limestone. They were declared a natural landmark by a government decree of 17 February 1949, covering 12.5 ha, and changes that would spoil the rocks and the landscape around them are banned (Dalgopol Municipality).

The rocks lie about 4 km south of Asparuhovo. The road between Asparuhovo and Dobromir runs through three tunnels cut through the rock, which is why locals call the place “the Tunnels”; the area partly overlaps the Kamchiyska Planina bird protection zone (Wikipedia (BG)). The municipality says a third-class road leads there with convenient places for photos. Bring water and sensible shoes: we found no official information on visitor facilities, parking or guided visits.

Tsonevo reservoir and the Luda Kamchia valley

Behind the rocks stretches Tsonevo reservoir, officially still called Georgi Traykov after the politician it was renamed for in 1975. It was put into service in 1974, is about 28 km long and holds 330 million m³ behind an earth dam 39 m high and 890 m long, a kilometre west of the village of Tsonevo (Wikipedia). Its water is used mainly for industry and irrigation, including the Varna–Devnya industrial zone, and it is a reserve source of drinking water for Varna. A road and a railway viaduct cross the lake (Wikipedia (BG)).

Two things to know before you go:

• Water levels vary a lot. Bulgarian Wikipedia reports drastic drying at the tail of the lake from the end of 2019, a return to normal in 2022 and a critical drop again from 2024. Do not count on a full lake.
• Swimming and fishing rules: the valley and the lakes are popular with anglers and holidaymakers, and Wikipedia lists carp, catfish, perch, bream and other species, but we found no official page with current rules for swimming or fishing here. Ask locally and follow any signs.

Upstream of the reservoir the Luda Kamchia runs through a deep gorge between the Varbitsa and Kamchia mountains, and the railway towards Karnobat follows its valley from Asparuhovo to Vedrovo (Wikipedia (BG)). It is a scenic stretch to see from the train window.

Asparuhovo: the village by the lake

Asparuhovo, still called Chenge by its people, sits where the road and railway enter the Balkan pass. In 1970 most of the old village was flooded by the reservoir and the village moved uphill. Its old cell school from the National Revival and the stone church of 1857 were moved from their original sites, and today they form the Ovchaga ethnographic reserve together with old-style houses. Ovchaga was also the name of a medieval fortress that, according to the Byzantine chronicler Manuel Philes, fought on the side of Tsar Ivaylo in 1277–1279 (Wikipedia (BG)). Since 2013 the village has held a honey fair every 14 October (Wikipedia (BG)). Most of the area’s guesthouses are in Asparuhovo and Tsonevo.

Monastery, waterfall and caves

The municipality lists three harder-to-reach natural and historical sights (Dalgopol Municipality):

• Royak rock monastery, about 2 km from Royak at a place called Dzheneviz Kanara on the edge of the Royak plateau. Researchers believe it started as a Thracian sanctuary and became a Christian monastery in the Middle Ages. In the narthex of the church you can still see inscriptions about its founding that name the tsars Mihail Asen and Ivan Aleksandar; the cells are cut on several levels on both sides of the L-shaped rock face (Dalgopol Municipality).
• Kuza Skoka waterfall, between Lopushna and Polyatsite. The water drops 10 m into a small pool, but it flows mainly at peak snowmelt and after heavy rain, so go in late winter or early spring (Dalgopol Municipality).
• Tulumova cave near Arkovna, a 3 ha protected site since 1968 on the south-east slope of Golyama Arkovna hill and a habitat of protected bats (Dalgopol Municipality). There are more than fifteen caves around Arkovna, half of them over 20 m deep (Wikipedia (BG)). Do not enter caves without an experienced guide, and leave the bats undisturbed.

In Arkovna village itself, the church of St Demetrius was built as a house, converted into a church in 1891 and consecrated in 1897; the municipality calls it the oldest church in the area. It was restored in 2004 (Dalgopol Municipality).

The Historical Museum in Dalgopol

The town’s museum began in 1948 as a school collection of the teacher and encyclopaedist Dimitar Zlatarski, became a state museum in 1975 and moved into a purpose-built building in the centre in 1985 (Dalgopol Municipality). Its archaeology department covers all periods from the Palaeolithic to the late Middle Ages. Finds from the area include the Neolithic settlement of Usoe near Asparuhovo, the Sava culture, named after the settlement mound at the village of Sava, a Thracian and Roman sanctuary with reliefs of the Thracian Horseman, and a Slavic village (Wikipedia (BG)). Objects from the monks’ life at the Royak monastery are also shown. We found no official opening hours, so call the municipality before a special trip.

How do you get to Dalgopol from Varna?

• Car: the most flexible way. By road (OSRM) the town is about 73 km from central Varna (roughly 70 minutes) and the Wonderful Rocks about 87 km (roughly 1 h 30 min), via Provadia.
• Train: Dalgopol and Asparuhovo have stations on the line from Varna towards Karnobat, and Velichkovo has a stop; passenger trains for Varna, Karnobat and Burgas stop at Asparuhovo (Wikipedia (BG)). Arkovna has a stop on the Shumen–Komunari line. Check current times on the BDZ timetable site (razpisanie.bdz.bg) before you travel.
• Bus: Varna bus station’s online timetable lists Dalgopol as a destination (Varna Bus Station); check departures there or call its information line.

A good day: drive via Provadia to Dalgopol, visit the museum, continue to Asparuhovo and the Wonderful Rocks, and return the same way. If you would rather head north-west from this part of the province, the Madara Rider and Shumen make a fine day trip of their own.

Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors.