Dynamic weather in October - Bebresh reservoir and Vidin-Botevgrad speedway

Less than an hour from Sofia, just north of the Vitinya Pass, the Bebresh river valley packs a surprising amount into a few kilometres: a quiet mountain reservoir, the highest bridge in Bulgaria, and a brand-new road taking shape across the Botevgrad valley. 🏞️

I went there with my camera for a walk. This post collects the photos and the stories behind these three places.

💧 Bebresh reservoir

The reservoir sits in the forested upper valley of the Bebresh river, about 3 km upstream of the village of Vrachesh. It holds around 15 million cubic metres of water and is the main drinking-water source for Botevgrad, as well as supplying irrigation for the valley.

The Bebresh itself is a 46 km mountain river. It rises at 1,440 m below Zvezdets peak in the Etropole Mountain, flows through a deep wooded valley and the Botevgrad basin, and joins the Malki Iskar near Svode. 🌲

Anglers know the reservoir well: barbel, chub, bleak and gudgeon live in its waters. In early 2020 it also made national headlines, when concerns over its falling level and a small hydropower plant raised fears of a water shortage in Botevgrad and prompted an official investigation.

🌉 The Bebresh viaduct

A few kilometres north of the Vitinya tunnel, the Hemus motorway leaps across the Bebresh valley on one of Bulgaria's most impressive structures. The Bebresh viaduct is 720 m long, with 12 spans of 60 m each, and stands about 120 m above the valley floor. That makes it the highest bridge in Bulgaria, and often called the highest in the Balkans. 😮

It opened in 1985, designed by engineers of Moststroy, with its prestressed girders cast right there on site. Seen from below, the motorway suddenly looks like a line drawn across the sky. Its height has also made it a favourite spot for bungee jumpers.

🛣️ Skravena and the new road to Vidin

Down in the Botevgrad valley, near the village of Skravena, a new chapter of Bulgarian infrastructure is taking shape. The old I-1 road (E79) from Botevgrad towards Mezdra, Vratsa and Vidin is being rebuilt as the Vidin–Botevgrad expressway, part of Pan-European Corridor IV, which links the Hemus motorway to the Danube Bridge at Vidin.

The section ending near Skravena, Lyutidol–Skravena, is about 19.4 km long and has been under construction in recent years. Here the new road meets the valley at the Skravena Interchange, where fresh lines of asphalt cut through the fields and hills below the village. 🚧

Skravena is also worth a stop in its own right: the Skravena Monastery of St Nicholas, on the hill above the village, dates back to the Second Bulgarian Empire (12th–14th centuries).

👣 My walk

We went on 16 October 2026, right in the middle of autumn. 🍂 The hills around the reservoir and the viaduct were dressed in colour: forests of yellow, orange and red, with the last green holding on in between.

The weather kept changing all day. Sun and clouds took turns, then a light rain started. After a couple of rounds of that, the big rain came. 🌧️ My friend Stefan was waiting for a stable, dry window to fly his drone. Just as we were finally about to shoot, the downpour hit, and we had to retreat to the car.

At the reservoir we also picked up a companion: a big shepherd dog, a real gentle giant. 🐕 He stayed close to the car the whole time and clearly wanted to come inside with us, especially once the rain started.

Then the sky changed again. A fresh wave of white clouds rolled in, forming a mosaic with the sun breaking through between them. ⛅ And from behind the hills, the moon quietly rose over the horizon. 🌕

On the way back, the light put on one last show. The ground was lit up in bright sunshine, while the sky above was heavy with very dark, dim clouds. 🌦️ The contrast was surreal, like two different days layered on top of each other. That light gave me my best shots of the day: the viaduct in vivid colour, low clouds and mist drifting through the valley, and photos rich in colour. 📸

Later we drove up to the Monastery of St Nicholas above Skravena. ⛪ From the hill I found the perfect angle over the Skravena Interchange below, part of the main Vidin–Botevgrad road. The heavy rain returned once more, but I still managed to capture the busy traffic streaming through the wet night. 🌃🚗

The day still wasn't over. Later that night the storms cleared completely, the rain-washed sky turned crystal clear, and above Skravena I tried my first Milky Way shots with this camera. 🌌 That story has its own post: Milky Way after a stormy autumn day.

📸 Photos

The photos from the walk are in the gallery below.

If you go: the reservoir lies above the village of Vrachesh, near Botevgrad, and the viaduct crosses the valley along the I-1 road towards the Vitinya Pass. Both are an easy half-day trip from Sofia.

Sources: Bebresh (river) – Wikipedia · Bebresh Viaduct – Wikipedia · Sofia Globe – Probe into Botevgrad water crisis · Botevgrad–Vidin expressway – AARoads · Road Infrastructure Agency bulletin – Lyutidol–Skravena