Warning: the last part of this hike, notably the 4 km between the peak Maja e Madhe and the village Grekaj, is pretty difficult. Note that at this point you’ve hiked already 20 km and climbed 2000 m so you may be a bit tired! There are very steep parts (grade 50%) and several parts were super overgrown in summer 2023. The high grass also made the steep descent rather slippery and difficult. Hiking sticks are highly recommended. The part through the forest had quite a lot of fallen trees that made passage difficult. Before the village Grekaj there were fields with ferns that were taller than myself, which made it very difficult to get through. Often I could not find a clear trail at this part of the hike, not sure if there is no “official” trail or I missed it due to the dense vegetation. There were some red/white markings but only in the opposite direction. But when you use GPS that is not too bad. This hike took me almost 13 hours, I started before 07.00 h and finished just before twilight around 19.30 h. For all these reasons I have rated this hike as “Very Difficult” in order to make you aware of this. But with some common sense and good equipment it’s do-able.
The easier option is to walk back to Ribnica after reaching the Korab Waterfall (see here, also for more pictures)
Also note that the 4 km from the main road through Mavrovo National Park to the starting point near Ribnica are unpaved. A car with reasonable clearance is recommended because there were quite some bumps on the road.
Nevertheless, this is a great hike, and the best I did in Macedonia in summer 2023. I
The hike starts near the village Ribnica in Mavrovo National Park and takes you to the Korab Waterfall and via the Albanian border and the village Grekaj back to Ribnica. It is 27 km long with about 2050 m climbing.
I designed this circular hike by combining two hikes from Sibel on Wikiloc: (https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/s-ribnica-korabski-vodopad-boazi-chaparec-izgrevno-ezero-shkrtec-s-ribnica-51445888# and https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/vrv-9-12-chaparets-na-korab-2119-m-n-v-06-06-2021-planinarski-predizvik-12-vrvovi-74085739#)
At the start of the hike I parked just before the makeshift bridge near Ribnica because it did not look very robust. Later I noticed a car passing the bridge. There are some buildings right after the bridge, as well as a fountain.
There was a cute rabbit on the road right in the beginning.
The first spring is in the village Ribnica. This first part of the hike is a shaded forest trail, but once you leave the forest the views really become breathtaking!
There are several springs along the trail.
All the time I was in anticipation to hear and see the great Korab Waterfall, which with is 100-138 m is the highest waterfall of Macedonia, only to find out that is was basically dry! There just was some mist at the top of the waterfall where the wind dispersed the little water that was left! My visit was end of July 2023 and it turns out that the best time to visit the waterfall is late May and early June as it may dry up in early July.
From the Korab Waterfall it is up to you if you walk the same way back or continue the hike like I did (which adds 4 additional km and about 800 m additional ascent, including the steep descent described above which may be very overgrown depending on the time of the year).
After the Korab Waterfall I had some difficulties finding the right trail and I corrected the uploaded GPS track a bit to fit again with the original GPS track from Sibel. It’s going steadily uphill, 600 m in 3 km during which you pass another spring and the first lake. I spotted a very little snake on the trail.
After the first lake I skipped the detour to the Boazi Peak that was included in Sibels hike. This part of the hike really has stunning views and peeks into the Albanian mountains. After the second lake, at the point where you have to leave the border with Albania and go left, there was a shepherd with his flock of sheep and goats. When I tried to make contact with the shepherd, his dog noticed me as well and came running at me.
On his turn, the Albanian shepherd came running after his dog trying to call it back, and he luckily succeeded. We shared some of my Dutch cookies and I continued my way over the sharp mountain ridge for almost 4 km until I reached the peak that is named Maja e Madhe on OpenStreetMap. Views were really amazing. From this point the difficult descent which I described above started.
Once you reach the village Grekaj it’s easy going again on a welcome 4×4 dirt road.
A great adventure and a race against time to finish before dark! This hike gets 5 out of 5 stars!
Note that is required to buy a ticket when you go hiking in Mavrovo National Park. This can be done online (https://npmavrovo.mk/tickets) or in person at the Information Point just outside the village Mavrovi Anovi (location: https://goo.gl/maps/vKJyEXSjDrhDn2V5A). In 2023 the price was 30 MKD (0.5 Euro) per person per day.
You can view and download the GPS track of this hike here: https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/ribnica-korab-waterfall-grekaj-in-mavrovo-national-park-145090450
In case you wonder what the waterfall should have looked like, see this picture from https://macedonia-timeless.com/
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