We’re heading, today, to one of Romania’s most spectacular
mountain massifs, Piatra Craiului. It is the place where you can have the breath-taking
glimpse of the chamois, officially declared nature monuments.The first step
towards the protection of the area had officially been taken in 1938, when a
nature reserve was founded in the region. Today we ‘re about to discover a wide
range of tourist routes and natural attractions. All of them are accessible, since
that mountain massif lies only 25 kilometers from the city of Brasov. Mircea Verghelet
is the director of the park administration.
Mircea Verghelet:
It is one of Romania’s 13 national
parks. In terms of surface area, the park straddles the counties of Brasov and
Arges, lying in the vicinity of the Rucar-Bran pass, a road with a very special
scenery. You can see the Bucegi Mountains on one side, while the Piatra Craiului
Mountains can be seen on the other side. To the west, we have two valleys, Brasov
County’s Barsa valley and the Dambovita river valley in Arges County. Practically,
the Piatra Craiului National Park is surrounded
by these two passes. The mountain is very spectacular. It is a limy ridge. It
is Romania’s only limestone area lying at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters.
It has a unique feature, meaning that the layers of limestone, a sedimental
stone that was formed on the bottom of the sea, are vertically placed, as a
result of the tectonic movements, mainly in the northern area. Normally, these
limestone layers are found on a horizontal position. So, very spectacular forms
of reliefs were thus formed, with steep areas, with vertical walls, with valleys
and detritus areas.
In
Piatra Craiului, quite unlike other regions across the country, since hunting
has been officially banned for almost all species, the chamois are very friendly
with the tourists. They even take pictures of the chamois with their cellphones,
with no strong zoom-in objectives needed. Sometimes, the chamois are four,
maybe five meters close to the tourists. For those who can climb all the way up
to the ridge areas, mainly in the summer, running into the chamois can be a
great joy, and the pictures become memories they take home with them.
The director of the Piatra Craiului National Park
Administration, Mircea Verghelet:
There are 44 tourists
routes, marked and approved, with various degrees of difficulty. First, there
are the routes surrounding the massif at its foot, in the forested areas,
which are more accessible. Then I should like to mention the routes cutting
across the gorges. We’ve got the limy canyons in the northern area, but also in
the southern area. To the north we’ve got the Zarnesti precipice, an area
famed because of its escalation opportunities as well. To the south, we’ve got
the Dambovicioara Gorges, the Brusturet and the Dambovita Gorges. A forest road
or public or communal roads cut across these gorges, just like in the southern
area. The routes are more accessible down below. As we’re approaching the
ridge, especially on the western slope, which is steeper, the routes become
more difficult. For the summer, tourists need to have the equipment required
for climbing: boots, raincoat, a cell phone so that they can announce the
Mountain Rescue Services if unpredictable events occur. Then it is very important
that they have water. In Piatra Craiului, there are no water sources in the
ridge area. However, for the winter season, we recommend those who want to take
the usual hiking itineraries and do not have the skills required for climbing,
to follow only the routes at the foot of the mountain. The trails in the ridge areas
are off-limits for the lay public.
Before setting out on a hiking route, you should get
info about the trail.
Mircea Verghelet:
You can visit our Internet
page, at pcrai.ro, where you can search a map for the visiting itineraries. You
can see them using Google Earth. Also, we have a printed copy of a tourist map
you can purchase from us. Our visiting center is one of Romania’s most modern
such centers. Its layout is that of a tourist itinerary, to be taken if you want
to get acquainted with the Piatra Craiului massif. We’ve got lots of
interactive gadgets as well as a map of the massif, on which various images are
screened, that including a 3D version of the tourist routes.
Also, all sorts of dioramas are available, structured according to various topics, flora, fauna, the history of the escalation in Piatra
Craiului, other protected areas across Romania, insects, caves, detritus and
suchlike. Every diorama is interactive as well and you can see a presentation and
several photographs. Before the pandemic, we used to have roughly 7,000
visitors a year. We hope that, after tis period, we can return to the initial
figure. A great many of them come in the summer, from Romania but also from
abroad. They come to get info, also seeking advice if they want to visit the
park.
At the moment, the Piatra
Craiului National Park Administration has two projects, currently in their implementation
stage, jointly carried with the other parks of the Carpathian arch belonging to
the member countries of the Carpathian Convention.
Mircea Verghelet:
One of them has to do with
the carnivores’ accessways between Piatra Craiului and Bucegi. As part of the project,
we also had several monitoring cameras. We managed to film all species of
carnivores, but also the other species in the park. All these takes can be
accessed on our Facebook page, enjoying a great number of visitors. Also, right
now we are going to initiate a project carried for the revision of the Piatra
Craiului National Park’s management plan. This should be the third management
plan we’ve had. We also intend to focus on birds, in the future, since the area
has also been declared important in this respect. We invite all those who would
like to visit a mountain region in Romania to come to Piatra Craiului, since it
is a one-of-a-kind such area. Many people say it is the most beautiful mountain
in the country, and beyond that. We believe that our facilities, our shelters,
our trails, the visiting center, all that can provide a unique experience.
We have extended out invitation to all of you. Please make
sure you visit us next week as well, when we’re heading towards the
south-western part of Romania. Our destination will be an area which is less
promoted, but which is famous for its wild nature, the Jiu River Gorges National
Park.
(EN)