Bucegi Nature Park

It is said of the Bucegi Massif that it is the center of mountaineering in Romania

Daniel Onea, 11.11.2021, 13:24

It is said of the Bucegi Massif that it is the center of mountaineering in Romania. With a surface of 300 sq km, this massif stretches over the surface of three counties. The natural beauty, the well-marked trails, accessible to all, the climbing trails, and the ski slopes in the chain of resorts in these mountains make for a vacation offer that is hard to refuse. The entire massif now makes for the Bucegi Nature Park. Our guide today is Alexandru Coltoiu, director of the park.

“The park is shared by the Dambovita, Prahova, and Brasov counties. The biggest part is in Dambovita County, for around 16,000 ha. The other 16,000 are shared almost equally between the counties of Prahova and Brasov. We are in the center of the country, in the most visited protected mountain area in Romania. We have the symbols of the Bucegi Mountains, Babele and the Sphynx, both natural monuments. In addition to natural monuments we have the Cross of Heroes, another big attraction. It was restored a few years ago with help from the Ministry of Defense. Now it is in great shape to be visited by tourists. The Sphynx is a symbol of the Bucegi, and can be found on many stamps and postcards, as well as on the Bucegi Nature Park crest. The Monument of Heroes is not natural, but it is just as much of a symbol. It was built between 1926 and 1928, in memory of the heroes fallen in the Great War. It was restored several times, the last time between 2018 and 2021, and is now in excellent shape.”

There are over 40 nature monuments in the park, but also protected fauna. Among them the black mountain goat, the emblem of the Bucegi, the bear, the deer, and the mountain rooster. As for the flora, there is the edelweiss, very well known. The flora can be best admired by following official trails. Here is park director Alexandru Coltoiu:

“We have 55 tourism trails that link together local communities and places of interest. We have seven thematic trails, which have resting places and information billboards presenting the natural heritage of the Bucegi Nature Park. We have over 250 official trails for mountain climbing. There is a visitation infrastructure that the park management offers: a visitor center in the town of Busteni, close to the Busteni-Babele cable car, an information point in the Pestera area. We also have an information point in the Sinaia City Museum. At the same time, there is also an information point at our headquarters, in Dambovita County, in the village of Moroeni. This center has two aims. One is to inform the public at large, the second is to educate, since we have there a classroom where we hold classes with partner schools in the neighboring area, and not only.”

There are two lakes in the Bucegi Nature Park. They are not large, but are beautiful, according to Paul Popa with the Sinaia National Center for Tourism Information and Promotion.

“From the center of town, everyone can get up on the mountain in 25 minutes at the most. It is a great advantage compared to other places, where you have a long way to go to reach the interesting areas. We are a paradise for everything to do with mountain trekking. The trails start right in the city. The first tourist markings for trails are in the city railway station. After the guests gets off the train, they find two trails, which we call connectors. They reach Cota 1,400 and Cota 2,000, points named by their altitude. After a trip around 30 minutes, you can reach the top of our mountain, the Furnica Mountain, with a top height of 2,200 m. Then you can go on to other objectives, to the natural monuments of Babele and the Sphynx, the Caraiman Cross, the Bolboci Lake and the beautiful area of Pestera. We also have the Baiu Mountains area, with loads of bicycle trails. We have developed a whole network of bike trails.”

The name of Ialomita Cave comes from the river Ialomita, which springs from 10 km away, in a glacial lake called Obarsia Ialomitei, at an altitude of 2,479 m. Manole Topliceanu, one of the guides to the cave, gave us a brief presentation:

“Ialomita Cave is in Moroieni, Dambovita County, at an altitude of 1,560 m. Its total length is 1,208 m, of which 480 m are accessible to the public. The cave has several large halls and galleries. Among the most important we have the Mihnea Voda Hall, with a church that dates back to 1508, dedicated to apostles Peter and Paul. Then you can visit the Decebalus Hall and the Lake Hall. The latter has the so-called living water waterfall. Then there is the Bear Cave, which is the most imposing and most beautiful. It is 70 m long. Here they found whole skeletons of the extinct cave bear. Then there is the Path of Waters, and the end point is called Altar.”

Alexandru Coltoiu, park director, told us that they always have development strategies for the area:

“There are various plans to make more thematic trails. This very autumn, we want to restore three existing ones, and make two new ones, to showcase the beauty of our mountains, and the objectives emphasized by management. We are in contact with domestic and foreign tourists each weekend, and we have park rangers in the field every day. We have good and interesting feedback from our visitors. Bucegi Nature Park has a very well developed skiing infrastructure, especially in Sinaia, but also in Busteni and the Bran area. I am inviting all your listeners to visit us.”

Here we have an area where you can encounter many nature monuments, with protected flora and fauna, where you can take hikes and enjoy the mountain winter resorts.