Much like Kotor a few weeks earlier, Sarajevo offers low friction, almost immediate access to dirt. I’d even argue that it surpasses our Montenegrin base thanks to its quick access to the Trans Europe network of trails. That said both Kotor and Shkoder still rein supreme as far as views and photo ops.
Here’s more about the dirt we found around the Bosnian capital.
The east portion of the Trans Europe Trail runs just minutes south of Sarajevo. Starting in the old part of town takes about 15 min to intersect the tarmac portion of the GPX route. About 10 minutes later the GPX takes a hard right up a steep incline and into the hills.
A very picturesque little village a few minutes later kicks off the real off-road as the narrow tarmac ends. The closest named location on Google Maps is called Tvrdimici.
Past the village, the trail heads into a forest. Occasional clearings offer views of valleys and settlements below. The surface was mostly dry when I rode it in late May and the few remaining puddles could be easily avoided. With the exception of a couple sections with softer, muddier ground, I’d rate this portion of the trail as easy and accessible to all ADV motorcycle weights. A fully packed 1250 ridden by a newbie may struggle here and there, but that would be the limit of it. This is true all the way to the Olympic Oasis where the dirt intersects R466A and the GPX returns to asphalt.
The GPX TET track follows the asphalt all the way to Jahorina, crosses the entire ski village and comes to a seeming end in front of a barrier blocking access to a trail climbing up the mountain above. When I arrived here the first time, I saw both the barrier and ATV and dirt bike tracks bypassing it over an adjacent hump. A local man observing my approach resolved my dilemma by simply motioning me up the trail. The hump isn’t the easiest obstacle. Both the approach and descent are pretty steep and short. I would not recommend traversing it to anyone without dirt bike experience. It takes just the right amount of throttle control and body positioning to make it tricky. Especially on heavier bikes.
The hump behind me, I continued up the trail to a plateau which lies pretty close to the mountain peek. Here it’s easy to run into packs of healthy and well nourished wild horses. I ran into their herd on both visits including one when riding two up with Min. That time we turned back as the Alpha stallion was protecting the herd by blocking the trail and herd was spread out enough where bypassing them wasn’t possible either.
Last week in May there was still snow on TET
On my first visit I saw the horses way off in the distance and was able to continue a few kilometers into a beautiful valley that followed.
I stopped my easterly exploration of the TET here, about 1.5hrs out of Sarajevo. Luck would have it, I ended up turning around right where the panoramic views were at their best.
About a kilometer before the village preceding the dirt portion of TET I found a lone trail leading into the southern forests.
Bjelašnica’s ski slopes in the background.
The path begins as an ordinary forest and meadow trail, but eventually the surface changes to gravel and loose rock as it makes a sharp descend into the valley several hundred meters lower.
At this point the ride becomes both more fun and picturesque, but the difficulty goes up a notch.
My instinct told me this would be a job for the engine rather than the breaks and I rode it down comfortably doing just that. As is my custom, I then tested the limits of the grip with breaks just to learn a bit more about the bikes limits. As well as my own.
I found that slipping didn’t require much break input at all. I continued with my go-to technique, about 10% breaking on the front and 0-5% on the back. Keeps the tires rolling at a steady speed without any lock ups.
Spin for better POV.
On the way back from Jahorina I also explored a few forest trails breaking off from the R466A north of the Olympic. The surfaces I found there were a combination of old cobblestones and dirt eventually leading to sections that were quite muddy. Thanks to lessons learned in Sardinia, the mud portions were easy to deal with the Karoo 4s mounted on both the back and front. If anything, I was pleasantly surprised. Looking back at my deep tracks I could see no evidence of the tires dancing in the mud at all. Even with 8 thousand kilometers worth of tread now gone. Good purchase.
A separate outing west on the TET took me up into the hills above Hrasnica which seems more like a western suburb of Sarajevo rather than its own little village.
Spin around for POV, not sure why it’s defaulting to rider view.
The TET GPX leads up into the hills on a twisty, but relatively generous tarmac. The transition to dirt comes very suddenly so I wouldn’t advise knee dragging on the way up. The traffic is light. When I was there I ran into as many mountain bikes as cars.
The dirt itself is mostly straightforward. I was a little surprised when I ran into VW Golf some 20 minute into the dirt section, but upon some reflection that seemed quite doable albeit if done at a pace of 5-10km in a car this low. I believe the driver must have been testing how far he could get and probably turned around only a minute or two earlier. I soon ran into large puddles with no tire tracks. This made the trail quite a bit more interesting on the bike but still not much of a challenge. As with my easterly exploration, I limited my ride out to 1.5hrs and turned around.
Compared to the east section of the TET, the Hrasnica hills are less picturesque and less interesting to ride. At least up until my turn around point. At the big 4-way split where I stopped, the trail becomes quite a bit more challenging as it makes a sharp ascend. Here, the level of difficulty flips from light adventure to enduro.
On my way back, I had a closer look at a couple side branches. Definitely enduro and dirt bike territory. Much fun for anyone not afraid to get their Tenere muddy, but any bike over 300lb could be quite a workout to lift up. Especially given how narrow and steep the trails were. Dirt vertigo was quite strong here and I was tempted to take my T7 in, but, reluctantly, I took the sensible way out instead. Long trip, no downtime, I told myself once again.
I’ll cover the Lukomir ride in another post, but since a part of it is dirt I decided to include that portion here.
The dirt is to be found on the Brda to Lukomir section of the trek mapped by Google between Sarajevo and Lukomir. The section is about 13km long and attracts as many bikers as cars and camper vans. The presence of these other vehicles may seem less than desirable, but the trail is well worth the time.
The surface is just fun enough to keep one engaged and the alpine views are quite beautiful. Overall, I found this area to be similar in character to the Alpine Loop and Cinnamon Pass in southwestern Colorado. Minus Texas ATVs and plus German Campervans.
We did not have the right boots for hiking the two viewpoint hills in Lukomir, but I suspect they’d be well worth it. We’ll probably return with a second pair of shoes.
On this particular outing we were rewarded with one of the best Burek dishes anywhere in Bosnia. When we pulled into one of the village restaurants there were already four CZ plated T7s sitting in front. By the time we parked ours and greeted the Czechs, three more Poles on BMWs joined in. Combined with the Bosnians running the show it was quite a Slavic sabbath.
Four Poles, including yours truly, 2nd from right
The Polish riders immediately warmed up to us when I greeted them in our common tongue. Burek and stories from the trail followed. It was a great meal.
The quickest path to dirt from Baščaršija aka old town that I found in Sarajevo leads into the hills north of the city.
The dirt section corresponds roughly to the gray roads east of the red marker on the map above. I typically ride the R447 south of the White Fortress as the road leads through a few hairpin turns and offers views of picturesque villages off in the hills. Once off the dirt I then come back on the east portion of the loop pausing to take in the views of the city. The road continues to entertain on the way back to the capital. The streets are narrow, twisty and steep.
The dirt section itself is relatively short, about 3-4km, so I usually ride it back and forth a few times. I’ve never come across any other rider when there. The terrain has a good flow for a relatively fast ride as long as one remains fully engaged. The surface is a combination of well packed forest dirt and occasional exposed boulders. A few water puddles as well.
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