Bumbálka (from Horní Bečva)
Climb · Czechia
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Bumbálka (from Horní Bečva) is a 10.2 km cycling climb averaging 3.8% (+386 m), rising from 513 m to 899 m in Czechia.
The border pass into Slovakia at 870 m, a customs crossing until Schengen closed the post in 2007. Beskyd Tour, the oldest Czech road cycling marathon, counts the saddle among its regular climbs and routed its 2025 edition up this valley.
10.2 km · +386 m · 3.8% avg · ~8.4% max · 513 → 899 m
Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.
Download GPX ↓Navigate to the foot ↗
Gradient by colour: ● <3% ● 3–6% ● 6–9% ● 9%+
Where it bites
Steepest 500 m: 8.1% (km 7.7–8.1).
| km | to | avg |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 535 m | 2.2% |
| 2 | 566 m | 3.1% |
| 3 | 590 m | 2.6% |
| 4 | 616 m | 2.6% |
| 5 | 640 m | 2.2% |
| 6 | 688 m | 5.0% |
| 7 | 745 m | 5.8% |
| 8 | 806 m | 6.0% |
| 9 | 846 m | 4.3% |
| 10 | 886 m | 3.9% |
What it’s like to ride
Bumbálka is the border pass into Slovakia, and from Horní Bečva the way up is a valley road rather than a mountain one, a little over 10 km along the upper Rožnovská Bečva at under 4% to the saddle at 870 m. The I/35 through the village is the trunk route from Valašské Meziříčí and Rožnov on to Makov and Žilina, and riders here warn the traffic never really lets up, so pick your hour. The Bečva cycle path runs traffic free down the valley and falls gently for its first kilometres, which is the way back many riders take. At the top there is food and drink on both the Czech and the Slovak side, a small ski area with a few lifts, the Salajka reserve of old fir and beech forest in the woods to the northeast, and the 30 m Čarták lookout tower on the hill just west of the pass.
History
Road I/35, the European route E442, carries this climb out of the Rožnovská Bečva valley to the Bumbálka saddle at 870 m, where it crosses the state border and drops away to Makov in Slovakia. The top of the climb was a road border crossing, Bílá-Bumbálka to Makov, signed for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, and it was abolished when the Czech Republic entered the Schengen area in 2007. Beskyd Tour, the oldest Czech road cycling marathon, founded in 1994 and run from Bílá, uses the saddle as one of its regular climbs. For the 31st edition on 28 June 2025 the organisers rerouted the 163 km course because Soláň was closed for road and bridge repairs, and the race came up this valley road instead: about 12 km and 400 vertical metres from the Zavadilka junction, by one rider's account of the day, on a wide first-class road with no hairpins to break it up.
Worth stopping near the climb
More climbs in Czechia
Common questions
- How long and steep is Bumbálka (from Horní Bečva)?
- Bumbálka (from Horní Bečva) is a 10.2 km cycling climb averaging 3.8% (+386 m), rising from 513 m to 899 m in Czechia.
- Where is Bumbálka (from Horní Bečva) steepest?
- The steepest 500 m averages 8.1%, between km 7.7 and km 8.1 of the climb.