Piatra Craiului National Park

Piatra Craiului is a single blade of limestone running roughly north to south for about twenty-five kilometres, and its defining feature is how narrow it is: for long stretches the crest is a knife edge with the ground dropping away on both sides, and the traverse is the most celebrated ridge route in the Romanian Carpathians. La Om, at 2,238 metres, is the high point. Below the crest the western face falls in a great scree slope and the eastern side is broken into gullies and towers, including the Great Gorge, Marele Grohotiș, and the Zărnești Gorge that most visitors walk as a gentle introduction. The park protects a genuinely rich flora, including the Piatra Craiului pink that grows nowhere else, and it holds significant numbers of bears, wolves and lynx. Refuges are small and unstaffed, and water on the ridge is scarce, which shapes every plan made here.

History

The natural area of the massif was protected on 28 March 1938 by a decision of the Council of Ministers and enlarged in stages; it was declared a national park in 1990, confirmed by Law No. 5 of 6 March 2000, and its limits were redrawn in 2003. It covers 6,967 ha in Argeș County and 7,806 ha in Brașov County (Wikipedia, Piatra Craiului National Park).

The landscape

• The ridge traverse - a long exposed crest walk with cable-assisted sections.
• Zărnești Gorge - an easy, dramatic walled walk from the town into the mountains.
• Curmătura chalet - the usual base under the northern end of the ridge.
• Endemic flora - the Piatra Craiului pink and other plants found only on this massif.

When to go

July to September for the traverse; snow lingers in the gullies well into summer and returns early. Storms build fast on summer afternoons and the ridge is the worst possible place to be caught, so start before dawn for the crossing.

Before you go

The traverse is exposed, with drops on both sides and sections protected by cables, and it is not a walk for anyone uneasy about heights. There is no water on the crest and none of the refuges is staffed or reliable for shelter. Bears are numerous here and encounters near Zărnești happen regularly, including at the town edge. The gorge walk is easy, but do not mistake it for the ridge.

Nearby

Bran Castle is a short drive east; the Libearty bear sanctuary is at Zărnești itself.

Key facts