Tracks at the Turjak

Allegedly, the visible effects of climate change have heightened environmental awareness in society. Or so they say. But is that really the case? Or, in the end, does the lure of cold, hard cash prevail once again? In this struggle, the environment always seems to come in second place. Such is the case with the ski resort on Mount Turjak. To fill the coffers of the municipality of Mojkovac, it was pushed through despite fierce opposition from environmentalists and is set to open soon. Thousands of trees and shrubs were cleared for the slopes, and vast areas of land were sealed with concrete for accommodations. The bare scars in the forests are visible from afar, as Turjak, standing at 1,912 meters, is the highest mountain in the Bjelasica range.

As disheartening as these developments may be, nature is stronger. Sooner or later, it will reclaim Turjak, and the ski resort will become little more than a historical footnote. In the meantime, we won’t let this spoil our mood and will explore the area around Turjak off-road by car or motorcycle – in an eco-friendly way, sticking to the existing trails. And there are plenty of those.

Take, for example, the route from Mojkovac heading east toward Bijelo Polje. Not particularly challenging, but with a variety of surfaces that make off-road driving so appealing. Starting from Mojkovac, you first ascend on asphalt to the village of Brskovo, where nature already lost the battle to mining in the 1950s. Beyond Brskovo, the asphalt ends. An earthy trail continues uphill, with a handful of switchbacks and a mountain hut along the way. The road surface gradually transitions from easy to demanding: cross ruts and gullies appear, some muddy patches need to be navigated, and loose rocks litter the path.
The new maintenance road up to the summit of Turjak, however, is once again a simpler affair. The rest of the tour follows suit, descending on a well-maintained gravel road into the Ljubovida Valley, leading to the M2 near Ravna Rijeka.