Great Rudoka 2’658 m/alt, adventure in southern Kosovo

· updated · 2 min read
A hiker crosses grassy alpine slopes below snow patches on Great Rudoka under a cloud-filled blue sky
Great Rudoka 2’658 m/alt, Kosovo
Distance
19.0 km
Ascent
+1,238 m
Descent
−1,164 m
High point
2,658 m
Difficulty
Challenging
Season
Early June

The route

Great Rudoka 2’658 m/alt, on the map

From my own GPX track. Move along the elevation profile or along the line on the map: both show the same point.

Distance19.0km
Ascent+1,238m
Descent−1,164m
High point2,658m
DifficultyChallenging

Walking time at your paceAn estimate without breaks, worked out from the distance and the climb.

  • Relaxed11 h
  • Average8 h 50 min
  • Fast7 h 5 min

Elevation

Elevation profile of Great Rudoka 2’658 m/alt, adventure in southern KosovoStarts at 1,505 m, climbs 1,238 m in total to a high point of 2,623 m after 8.9 km, and finishes at 1,511 m; 17.7 km in all.1,500 m2,000 m2,500 m0 km2 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km14 km16 kmBrodGreat Rudoka · 2,623 m

How steep

  • 6.6 kmUnder 8%
  • 4.2 km8 to 15%
  • 5.3 km15 to 25%
  • 1.6 kmOver 25%

In two parts

Download the GPXPrint for the trailDirections to the start

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What to pack14 things, for a summit, a long day

Every hike

For the summit

For a long day

The light for photographs

Today at Great Rudoka: sunrise 06:08, sunset 16:32.

Today at Great Rudoka: sunrise 06:08, sunset 16:32.

At Great Rudoka, 2,623 m, in local time (Europe/Belgrade), with an open horizon: the mountains around can hide the sun sooner.

In short

Great Rudoka is a 2,658 m peak in the Sharr Mountains, on the Kosovo and North Macedonia border. The hike starts at Hotel Arxhena near Brod and covers 19 km with 1,238 m of ascent. It is a long meadow route; carry around 2 litres of water.

The Great Rudoka 2’658 m/alt, unofficially the highest peak of Kosovo (officially is Gjeravica 2’656 m/alt). Located in the border between Kosovo and Macedonia, and it is part of the Sharr Mountains. A long hike in a meadow terrain. A great adventure in the south part of Kosovo.

Snow patches on Great Rudoka’s rocky summit beneath large clouds in the Sharr Mountains

How to get there

The starting point for this trail is the village of Brod in the south part of Kosovo. Brod is part of the town called Dragash. To go to Brod, first, you need to go through Prizren, then to Dragash through a lot of villages. In Dragash you can find the last supermarket, therefore there you can buy food. After Dragash, you follow the signs to go to Hotel “Arxhena”. Hotel “Arxhena” is the starting point for the hike. There you can park the car, and use the Restaurant. During the winter Arxhena is a ski resort too. It is an amazing ski piste!

About the Great Rudoka hike

You start the hike from the hotel, through a signed trail. There you can find a river, which is a great water source, then you go through the river uphill, in a meadow terrain. After around 4 km of the hike, you will see an amazing waterfall, which is called Celepino waterfall, and it is a very hidden gem in Kosovo:

A hiker crosses grassy alpine slopes below snow patches on Great Rudoka under a cloud-filled blue sky

Then you will go through the spring of this waterfall and continue going uphill, where you can see a lot of other peaks, which make this hike even more beautiful. The terrain is signed. The last part of the hike is going up a hill, which is around 200 m.

The peak is located on the border between Kosovo and Macedonia. On top of this peak, you can enjoy the view of a lot of mountain peaks in Sharr Mountains, if the weather is clear you can see the Mount Korab 2’764 m/alt as well, which is the highest peak in Albania and Macedonia. I would suggest hiking to this mountain in early June because of the beautiful colors of nature. Also, the mountains are half snowy half meadowy.

The total distance for this hike is around 19 km.

This is a long hike, therefore for this hike you need around 2 liters of water.

Points of interest:

Starting point: Brod, Kosovo

Starting altitude: 1’488 m/alt

Highest altitude: 2’658 m/alt

Elevation gain: 1’238 m/alt

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Granit Temaj

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