Retezat National Park - a place to spend your time away from crowds

If you really want a time to forget about phone, mail, internet, worries and daily tasks, a ride through Retezat National Park can be just what you need. The reserve is so beautiful that it seems unreal - with over 50 glacial lakes, thousands of plant species and hundreds of bird species that pass through the mountains and forests of the Retezat Massif.
Retezat National Park is the hobby of hikers and the place where you will feel the need to always return.

Where is Retezat National Park

The Reservation is located in Retezat-Godeanu Mountains, in Hunedoara County, and covers an area of ​​over 38,000 hectares, comprising the territories of four communes and towns: Rau de Mori, Salasu de Sus, Pui and Uricani. Although it was founded in 1935, the Retezat National Park obtained Biosphere Reserve status only in 1979. The area can be reached on DN 66A on the route Vulcan - Lupeni - Campul lui Neag, DN 67D (Valea Cernei) or on DN 68 , From Caransebes.

The car can be reached to the Nucsoara Visitor Center, and further on, with the backpack on the mountain trails.

What you can see in Retezat National Park

The massif consists of the Great Retezat (with a great presence of crystalline rocks) and Retezatul Mic (rich in limestone rocks), both intersecting in the area of ​​the glacial lake Bucura, at an altitude of over 2,000 meters - Romania, with an area of ​​almost nine hectares. This is also the starting point for many mountain hiking trails. At Bucura you can camp and there is also a refuge built on the edge of the lake.

The reserve includes many mountainous masses that although they are more than 2,000 meters tall, they are accessible. We are talking about the Papusa Peak (2508 m), Retezat (2482 m), Peleaga (2509 m) or Judele (2334 m).

The park means both jneppened areas, waterfalls, gorges and many, many glacial lakes where the sun and the blue sky mirror perfectly. You will be amazed at the gorgeous scenery that you are portraying as you move forward. And the silence around. Apart from the glacial lakes in the Gemenele area (forbidden to the tourists in order not to affect the ecosystem), you can reach and visit all the glacial lakes in the area. Here we will be a bit subjective and we will say that the most beautiful (at least from our point of view) are Lake Ana, full of trout (flowing into Lake Lia), Lake Bucura - the largest glacial lake in the country, Lake Gales - surrounded by pine forests, Lake Peleaga - the destination of most of the mountain trails in Retezat.

Even if it is one of the hard-to-reach lakes in Retezat, Taul Tap (located between rocks) is a unique, charming place that leaves you breathless.

Tourist routes

Retezat National Park has always been the interest of tourists and, in particular, of foreign tourists. Every year, the reserve is visited by nearly 18,000 tourists, a quarter of which are foreign. Over the past five years, the Park administration has designed several tourist routes, paying attention even to children.

The "Puzzling Route" has a low degree of difficulty, it is marked with blue tape and lasts 3-4 hours. Throughout it, flora and fauna can be admired; Tourists have the opportunity to find out something about the history and traditions of the area, information about animals and plants - all of which are inscribed on the boards and panels displayed on the route.

The "lakes trail" is just as easy, it can be traveled in about two hours and starts from the Salvamont Refuge Lake Lake. Mark: Red dot on white background. The Brazi route - Pelegii saddle is for professionals, being a difficult one to cross. From the Brazi area, they climb to Gura Apei Dam, Valea Lapusnicului Mare, Poiana Pelegii and Saua Pelegii. In winter, the route is forbidden. Mark: blue dot on white background.

The Pietrele - Lake Galesu route takes about 3 and a half hours and is accessible all year round. Same as Pietrele - Lolaia (one and a half hours) or Stones - Retezat peak (about 4 hours).