matkacanyon.net is a visitor guide to Matka Canyon and Lake Matka on the south-west edge of Skopje, North Macedonia. It is written for people planning a visit: how to get there from the city, the state of the lakeside trail, how to reach Vrelo cave, which churches to see and when to go.
Who is responsible for the canyon
Matka Canyon is a monument of nature, declared by the Council of the City of Skopje in 1994. A law re-declaring it under the 2004 law on nature protection passed first reading in the Assembly in August 2024, was then sent back to the Ministry of Environment, and was still with the Ministry at the end of November 2025; until a new law is passed, the 1994 decision remains in force (checked November 2026). The canyon lies in the Municipality of Saraj, which closed the lakeside path on 26 February 2026 on an act of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue. The dam and the lake belong to the hydropower plant of EVN Macedonia Elektrani, the churches and monasteries to the Macedonian Orthodox Church, and the city buses to JSP Skopje. This site is not run by any of them, or by any state body, and does not speak for them.
Where the facts come from
- Protection, paths and the canyon’s description come from the City of Skopje’s pages and its records, and the bill to re-declare the canyon from the Assembly’s record and the Macedonian press.
- The closure of the lakeside path comes from the Municipality of Saraj’s notice of 26 February 2026, as published by the Macedonian press, and the rockfall of 7 January 2026 from press video of the event.
- The dam, the lake and the power plant come from the power company’s page on the Matka plant, and the exhibition centre’s hours from the centre’s own site.
- Bus 60 times and fares come from JSP Skopje’s timetable data and price list.
- The churches come from published histories of the monasteries, including the Matka monastery’s own.
- Vrelo cave comes from the Vrelo cave diving club and press reports of its expeditions.
- Road and walking distances are routed along the mapped road and path network between the named points; straight-line distances are measured between the same points; boat distances are measured along the middle of the lake.
- Temperatures and rainfall are averages of the Copernicus climate reanalyses for the canyon’s area.
- Maps are drawn for this site from open map data, credited on each map.
Facts were checked in November 2026.
Corrections
If a fare, a timetable or a path has changed, please tell us at info@matkacanyon.net and we will check it and correct the page.
Bookings
This guide does not sell tours, boat trips, kayak hire, transfers or rooms. Boats, kayaks and the cave visit are paid on site to the people who run them.