Albanian Alps | Valleys and Canyons

Our stay in Shkoder at the feet of the Albanian Alps was a very short one. Only long enough for three rides. We made the most of it by visiting three stunning valleys northeast of the city including two I’d call canyons.

Here are the details.

Theth via SH21

Some consider the SH21 to Theth a must-do for an adventure rider visiting this region. Personally, I enjoyed all three valleys as each offered a surprising variety of riding and sights. Of what we saw of the three roads — and we did spend more time here than on the other two — SH21 is the most technical.

Getting to the valley from Shkoder takes about 35-40 minutes. Once in the valley proper, the road narrows and cars often slow down when passing in opposite directions.

The first 35 minutes of the valley is already beautiful and sometimes grand in the views it offers the traveler, but the road isn’t challenging from an ADV perspective.

This changes around the village of Fushe-Okol with the start of very tight switchbacks. The hairpins require a decent amount of focus and the cars traveling in the opposite direction often take up most of the road which can add up to an unpleasant surprise around a blind corner.

Best to lower one’s speed to a point where there’s ample time to react. Or rather, to give driver of the car the time to correct course and give you the space to slide through. Other than that, the ride is as fun and engaging as tarmac gets and the views are spectacular.

Theth.

For those seeking off-road thrills those too are available past Theth. Having switched to a two-up ride at the bottom of the switchbacks, we bypassed the dirt and headed straight for one of the two restaurants on the main street, but continuing on through the National Park would have opened a whole world of trails. The temperatures here are low. It was about 21C in Shkoder that day, May 2nd, but only 8C at the highest mountain pass and about 11C in Theth. Considering how long it takes to get there, I’d be tempted to come back for several days mid-summer with a tent and explore beyond asphalt.

Kir River Valley

Rruga Mesit–Postribë, as the road from Shkoder to Prekal and beyond is known, is a hidden gem. Lacking a formal SH** road designation it did not appear in any of my research results. I found it just by looking at the map hoping to find a quick dirt ride at the break of day on Sunday.

While I failed in my attempt — no dirt on the half hour stretch I traveled at 6:30 that morning — the ride was truly beautiful. The valley is much tighter and less visited than SH21. I’d argue that the steepness of the hills rising up from the riverbed is what makes it more of a canyon. Unlike its neighbor to the north, the road here is so narrow as to force cars travelling in opposite directions to nearly stop when passing. There are no technical sections, but that’s a good thing as much of a rider’s attention goes to the breathlessly beautiful riverbed instead.

The Kir River valley would get my vote as the best adventure route among the three. There are no tourists or tourist conveniences, just farming folk going about their business many still living in stone homes hundreds of years old. There’s no clear destination or a restaurant to settle into either. The canyon is simply waiting to be discovered.

SH20 to Vermosh

The road to Vermosh snakes through the mountains and valleys along the Albania-Montenegro border following the Cemi River. We didn’t have the time to explore it all the way to the end, but decided to venture out a good half hour past the Hani i Hotit border crossing where we’d eventually return to enter Montenegro.

Of the three valleys, the road here is the widest and the hairpin turns most generous. The switchbacks begin not far north of Hani i Hotit. There’s only one pullout worth stopping at on the way up the first hill, but it’s a good one as it offers sweeping views of the Shkoder Lake in the distance.

After the initial climb the road reaches a plateau and traverses a couple small villages before offering small glimpses of the main attraction ahead. What comes next is truly stunning. It would be tempting to call it Albania’s Grand Canyon due to its sheer scale, but according to my research the country has two larger ones still. Regardless, awe inspiring it is.

There’s a great little pullout right at the beginning of the switchbacks leading down into the canyon that’s perfect for photographs and ice-cream. Great for quick chats with fellow ADV’ers from far away places as well. We chanced upon a group of 6 riders from the Czech Republic. Half of them rode Tenere Extremes so we even managed to talk shop. A few less off-road oriented groups passed by as well.

Through the switchbacks.

More than happy with what we found we swung our horses around and headed for the border, but what we left unexplored down in the canyon was promptly added to our to do list.

Viewpoint 360