The first rope park in Bulgaria is constructed
Anita Valentinova, source: okolosveta.com, 10.10.2011
The first rope park outside forest was opened in Bulgarian town Simitli. The park was created by Stanimir Stanimirov, professional kayak and rafting trainer in an extreme sports club. Stanimir explained that the first idea of the project was to own a terrain nearby the river in order to extend the opportunities for sport activities in the region. However, they decided to build a rope park, following the models, adopted abroad. They used iron poles due to the lack of enough trees in the region. The attraction is the first artificial park in Bulgaria. The Russian National Kayak team train in their club. They come in Bulgaria to conduct trainings and later become champions. Actually, this is the main idea of the training field, to develop different sports. Struma River offers nice training opportunities and the enthusiasts try to preserve the river.
The park is a result of different combination of strategies. The rope line is artificial and created by 24 elements in two levels. One can jump from any element on additional 6. The rope park is located in close proximity to international road E75. Every second vehicle that passes goes to Greece. Most of the passengers come from the neighboring countries and it would be a good opportunity for the municipality to develop the park as an attractive tourism destination for everyone and further promotion will enhance the awareness of passengers. Bansko ski resort and Sandanski wellness resort welcome many tourists and they are located only 40 minutes drive from this site, so promotion may attract tourists to spend at least a couple of happy hours in Simitli.