Apuseni Natural Park

The Apuseni are lower than the eastern Carpathians and quite different in character: limestone country riddled with caves, swallow holes and underground rivers, with high pastures and isolated wooden farmsteads scattered across the plateaus between them. The park, declared in 2000 over some 75,800 hectares, holds more than a thousand known caves, including the Scărișoara ice cave with its underground glacier, the vast portals of Cetățile Ponorului, and cave systems still being explored. The surface is just as strange, with whole valleys ending in sinkholes and rivers vanishing into the hillside to reappear kilometres away. The park also protects a way of life that has largely disappeared elsewhere: the Moți people farm hay meadows on steep ground, and hamlets sit at altitudes where you would expect nothing but forest. Distances are short on the map and long in practice, because roads are poor and often unsurfaced.

Background

The park lies in the central and northern Apuseni Mountains, taking in part of the Bihor Mountains to the south and the Vlădeasa Mountains to the north, and is shared between Cluj, with 40%, Bihor, with 32%, and Alba, with 28%. It spreads over 16 communes, and Boga, Fântânele and Vârtop are its three resorts. Within it lie dozens of smaller reserves, from caves of a hectare or less, such as Scărișoara and the Bears' Cave, to the Padiș and Lumea Pierdută karst plateaus and the Sighiștel valley of 412.6 ha. Its waters drain to the Arieș, the Someșul Mic and the Crișul Negru, and in the north the Beliș-Fântânele reservoir, built from 1970 to 1974 at 1,050 m, covers 826 ha behind a dam 92 m high.

Source: Wikipedia, "Apuseni Natural Park"

The landscape

• Cave systems - Scărișoara, Bears' Cave, Meziad and dozens more, some show caves and some wild.
• Padiș and Cetățile Ponorului - the karst heartland with its sinkholes and giant portals.
• Scattered hill farms - wooden houses and hay meadows high on the plateaus.
• Gorges and springs - Galbenei, Sighiștel and the resurgences where rivers reappear.

When to go

May to October. Spring brings the strongest flow through the underground systems, autumn the best colour and the most settled weather. Winter closes most access roads and many caves. Caves stay near freezing in every season regardless of the surface weather.

What to expect

Access is the hard part: many of the best places are reached by rough tracks that ordinary cars will not manage, and signposting is patchy. Wild caves require equipment, a guide and permission. Accommodation is thin and concentrated at a few points. Mobile coverage is unreliable across the plateaus.

Nearby

Bears' Cave and the Padiș plateau lie within the park; Cluj-Napoca is east.

Key facts