Trail Marking in the Bulgarian Mountains

Paint-blaze (color) marking is used for marking summer trails. It consists of rectangular stripes painted onto trees, stones, posts, or rocks. Each marker has three horizontal stripes - two white ones with a colored stripe in between. The color of the middle stripe can be green, blue, red, or yellow. Unlike other similar systems such as the Czech and Swiss ones, and contrary to claims you might find on some websites, in Bulgaria the color of the middle stripe does not correspond to the difficulty, duration, or type of the route. However, it allows you to distinguish between the markings of two or more routes that start from the same place or share a common section before splitting up.

At the beginning of the trail and at junctions, there are signs indicating the route's destination and the color of the marking we need to follow. The color markers may be "bent" in the direction the trail turns. It is also possible for the markers to be drawn in the shape of an arrow.

Although rare, there are also color markers made of metal or plastic that are attached to trees with nails or screws.

Pole marking is used to indicate winter routes. The poles are usually metal, or less frequently wooden, and are tall enough (at least 2.5 meters) to remain visible above the accumulated snow. They are painted in black and yellow stripes. Sometimes, directional signs are placed on them. Very rarely, we can also see azimuth signs on the poles.

There are routes where the poles are numbered - for example, the poles marking the winter trails to Cherni Vrah in Vitosha are numbered in descending order toward the peak, where pole number 1 is located and where the trails converge.

The winter and summer routes for a given destination may overlap completely or in certain sections. In such cases, we can see signs for the summer trail placed on the poles of the winter marking, or even paint blazes drawn directly onto the poles themselves. However, isolated poles with signs do not constitute a winter marking - often at junctions and around mountain huts, directional signs for summer routes are placed on poles.

Along the routes, we will also see rectangular signs indicating the destination and the color of the marking, and sometimes the approximate hiking time. The text on most new signs is written in both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets.

The signs can be made of metal, wood, or even plastic. For instance, the signs in Rila are metal, whereas in Pirin, they are often made of wood.

There are signs that do not indicate the color of the marking, as not all summer routes have paint blazes. In Vitosha, for example, a significant portion of the trails are marked solely with signs.

Along the trails, we will also find boards with information about the geography and biodiversity of the respective area, as well as those indicating regulations in protected areas, avalanche danger, or the probability of encountering large predators.

Along unmarked trails, hikers often leave small piles of stones to help the next person passing through. This is especially helpful in rocky areas where a distinct path cannot be worn into the ground. These marking cairns also frequently accompany marked routes, assisting in sections where the official paint blazes are insufficient or faded.

However, following cairns can be dangerous - we do not know who built them, we do not know whether they were climbing up or coming down (on scree slopes and rocky sections, ascending is often much easier than descending), nor whether the terrain they lead us to will suit our capabilities.

Not every marking in the mountains indicates a hiking trail. For instance, trees often feature markings consisting of two parallel stripes, circles, arrows, or numbers in two colors - black and white. This is forestry marking. It designates the boundaries of forest sections. If the stripes are black and red, however, we are likely on the border of a protected area. We might also come across ribbons tied to branches - this is how ultra-marathon routes are frequently marked.

Tourist paint blazes always consist of three stripes - two white ones and a colored (but never black) stripe in the middle.

The quality of trail markings varies from excellent (on main routes in national and nature parks, though not everywhere) to practically non-existent. In some places, the signs are old and their text is illegible. Many routes are marked by volunteers, local hiking clubs, or private organizations, and their markings are usually good.

However, due to certain quirks of human psychology, you may encounter the following situations:

• A route, which is is abundantly marked at the beginning while the trail is flat, but at the very first junction or steep incline, the markings abruptly vanish.
• Information boards that contain typos (even in the headings), text that is unreadable due to printing issues, or even names of non-existent mountain huts.
• Signs that point in the wrong direction or provide heavily underestimated arrival times, as if the estimation were made by an ultra-marathoner.
• Signs that always display the total duration of the route regardless of their actual location along it, leaving you wondering why your remaining arrival time never decreases.

It is important to note that due to fast-growing dwarf pine, fallen trees, and landslides, the quality of the markings does not necessarily reflect how passable a route is. Even if a route was marked recently, you may still run into impassable sections when you set out. The hut.bg platform features a function for reporting these blocked sections along with their exact coordinates.

On hut.bg, route pages provide information about the color, type, and quality of the markings - both for the route as a whole and for its individual segments. On the map, each route is indicated by a line that matches the color and style of its actual trail markings.