Chepelare is the sunniest town in Bulgaria with an estimated 270 days of sun per year. Chepelare, together with Pamporovo, which is only 11 km away, have been renowned winter resorts since 1937. Chepelare is not only famous for its 20 km long ski runs at the Mechi Chal ski center but also for the natural phenomenon of The Bridges of Wonder, and the numerous marked hiking and mountain bike tracks, leading along the Old Roman road which used to connect Tracia with the Aegean Sea in Greece. One can also find here the only Karst museum on the Balkan Peninsula, the National Astronomical Observatory "Rozhen", the largest observatory complex for optical astro - physics in South - Eastern Europe.