Lura

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The Lure of Lura

Summary: Everyone seems to have heard of the fabled Lure Lakes, but not many people seem to venture there. Lure villages is considered remote, the road to the Lure Lakes is rumoured to be impossible, nobody talks about climbing Maja e Kunora e Lurës (the "Crown of Lure"). The park is said to be destroyed by excessive logging, the hotel difficult to reach without any options for accomodation.

But the lure of Lura remains.

We wanted to climb the main summit of Lure Mountain, and combine it with some off-roading experience around the area.

We approached Lure area from Rreshen, drove to Lure village and about half-way up to the Lakes. There we camped for an early start, to hike to the lakes and the Crown of Lure. For our return trip we choose the (more difficult) road from Lure village to Qafa e Lanës, the summer residence of Mënësh, and down to Çidhnë. From there, it is an easy drive to Arras and Fushë-Muhurr. From here, one could go on to Peshkopi, but we opted for the "Southern Lure Road". It leads from Fushë-Muhurr, through Selishtë, across Qafa e Murrës, to Lis, Burgajet and Burrel.

The Climb to the Crown of Lura: Note that we took the car up to the waypoint "camp", and made an early start in the morning from there to the lakes and the mountain. This reduces the walking distance to 14.2 kilometers, and about 6 hours.

Maximum altitude:	2120 meter
Minimum altitude:	1072 meter
Cumulative height:	1069 meter
Cumulative length:	21.6 kilometer
Difficulty	moderate
Time:	10 hours
Date of this record	August 2012
Download GPS info:	The Crown of Lura

The Drive from Rreshen to Lure Village:

Maximum altitude:	1132 meter
Minimum altitude:	82 meter
Cumulative height:	1499 meter
Cumulative length:	53 kilometer
Difficulty	moderate
Time:	3 hours up
Date of this record	August 2012
Download GPS info:	Rreshen to Lure village

The Drive from Lure to Fushë Muhurr:

Maximum altitude:	1384 meter
Minimum altitude:	394 meter
Cumulative height:	1141 meter (down)
Cumulative length:	32 kilometer
Difficulty	difficult
Time:	3 hours
Date of this record	August 2012
Download GPS info:	From Lure to Fushe Muhurr

The Drive from Fushë Muhurr across Qafa e Murrës to Burrel:

Maximum altitude:	1125 meter
Minimum altitude:	191 meter
Cumulative height:	1159 meter (down)
Cumulative length:	52 kilometer
Difficulty	moderate
Time:	3.5 hours
Date of this record	August 2012
Download GPS info:	Qafa e Murrës

General location and approach: Centrally located, north of Tirana and Burrel.

Other Information: It is also possible to drive from Rreshen to Burrel (or vice versa). Combined with the trails above, this would make a complete tour around Mali i Dejes and the Lure area.

A monument to the miners of Kurbnesh: You dug for minerals, but the gold were you.

From Fushë Lurë, we took the reputedly bad road up towards the Lakes. This old hotel stands along the road. It was closed and - in spite of its fabulous location - did not look inviting.

The road towards the lakes is quite bad indeed.

Lure area is said to have suffered a lot from illegal wood cutting, though logging seems to have stopped around the Lure Lakes. However, many trees have been destroyed by fire or disease.

Next morning, we continued the way up to the lakes, on foot

One can follow the road, or cut short some of the switchbacks

A not-so-encouraging sign-board to the main lake.

A few hundred Meter higher, the view from the ascent, back to the lakes and Lure village

The summit area of Lure Mountain. The grey ridge with its steep eastern wall is Mali i Dejes

View across some of the lakes, and Lure village

Steep cliffs on the northern side of the mountain

We selected a different return trail to the lakes

The new hotel in the centre of Lure. We recommend it. Also check out Lura hotel on Facebook.

Fushë Lurës, and the Crown of Lura, seen from the road to Muhurr. The Lure Lakes are in the heavily wooded area.

View from Qafa e Lanës across the Drini valley, with Gallica Mountain near Kukes

Mënësh, a summer settlement, at an altitude of 1140 Meter

The water channel can be seen across the mountain. In the background the Crown of Lure.

The bridge across the Drini, near Fushë Muhurr

A real alternative to beach holidays - at the Drini River

On the road from Muhurr to Qafa e Murrës. Someone forgot to collect his marble.

Three trucks, in primary colors like Easter-eggs, on their way to collect wood

This image of the trail was taken from a trip to Allamani Mountain. It shows Mali i Dejes (a worthwhile hiking destination, see separate webpage). Below it the feature known as Gryka e Varroshit, near Qafa e Murres. The road with some switchbacks passes nearby.

View to Allamani Mountain (also a hiking destination, see also on this website), from nearby Qafa e Murrës

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 viewing it directly in Google Earth. You need to have Google Earth installed on your computer. Activate "wikiloc"in the "Gallery" menu in Google earth.