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To the top of Kruja Mountain

Summary: An easy but interesting loop hike from the tourist town of Kruja. Most foreign visitors to Albania and also Albanians end up and one time or the other in Kruja town, to shop for souvenirs or visit the Skenderbej Museum. The mountain behind Kruja town looks almost vertical, and few visitors know that there is an easy pilgrim's path leading to a Bektashi temple near the plateau on the top. The return way is along an easy dirt road back to the trailhead. There is a simple restaurant on top of the mountain, a few steps along the return path.

Maximum altitude:	1134 meter
Minimum altitude:	615 meter
Cumulative height:	519 meter
Cumulative length:	8.2 kilometers
Difficulty	easy
Time:	about 3 hours, roundtrip
Date of this record	February 2011
Download GPS info:	Kruja Mountain

General location and approach: Kruja town is a half hour drive from Tirana. In Kruja, enquire for the road that leads to the top of the mountain. The trailhead is along this road, before the last houses.

Other Information: The face of the mountain is to the West. To avoid the afternoon heat it is best to do the hike in the morning. In winter and early spring, some passages in the shade near the top remain icy. When there is no snow cover on top of the plateau, you can can shortcut several switchbacks of the road, shortening the hike.

GPS and trailmaps: The map and trailinformation is generated by www.wikiloc.org, based on GPS information collected from the actual hike. Waypoints can be downloaded to a GPS device from Wikiloc. If necessary, use GPSBabel to convert GPS data to different formats. For more hike descriptions by Palmtreetreeproduction, browse this website or visit Wikiloc and search for "Palmtreeproduction". You may also find nearby trails from other authors.

Google Earth: You may also view the trail in 3D by clicking "view in Google Earth" when on Wikiloc. You need to have Google Earth installed on your computer.

Images: Click the button at the end of the page to view the slides in full screen