Ceahlau Mountains and Suhardul Mic peak, an incredible weekend adventure.

Mariana Holostenco

Ceahlau Massif is one of the most famous mountains of Romania. A mysterious source of legends where each rock and every cottage has its own fascinating stories
Located in the heart of Moldova and mirroring its magnificence in the clearness of Lake Izvorul Muntelui, Ceahlau dominates the surroundings and imposes admiration through the beauties polished only by the passage of time. Ceahlau Massif is flooded by trails that invites you to find out their stories.

Located in the heart of Moldova and mirroring its magnificence in the clearness of Lake Izvorul Muntelui, Ceahlau dominates the surroundings and imposes admiration through the beauties polished only by the passage of time. Ceahlau Massif is flooded by trails that invites you to find out their stories.

How to get there

Starting form Tîrgu-Mures at 6 am, we covered the first part of the journey by car: Tîrgu Mureș – Reghin – Deda – Toplița – Gheorgheni – Lacul Roșu .
After approx. 3 hours we reached Lacul Roșu, from where we set off to the Suhardu Mic peak located at an altitude of 1345 m.

Things to do

On Ceahlau mountains are several trails leading up to the peak, we chose the one marked by a blue triangle, starting from Hotel Turist. The trail is not a difficult one, it can be covered in approx. 30 minutes without much effort.

The view that greeted us on top, however, was a spectacular one. Right below us, we could see the resort and the Valea Oii arm of the Lacul Roșu lake.

After an approx. 30-minute break of just taking in the view, we headed back to the cars to continue our way towards our final destination, the Ceahlau massif, which is already located outside of Transylvania.

Our next stop was the Izvorul Muntelui (Bicaz – Békás) dam, which impresses with its sheer size. Built between 1950 and 1960, it is 127 m tall, 435 m long and 119 m wide. The reservoir is even more impressive with its 35 km length, 71 km perimeter, 1250 m3 of water and 32,6 km2 surface area.

From here we carried on towards Izvorul Muntelui. We left our cars in a car park and entered the Ceahlau National Park on foot. Despite the inexpensive ticket costing only 5 ron, we were pleasantly surprised by the park’s overall cleanliness and the excellent condition of its trails.

We highly recommend stocking up on water at the spring located right at the entrance as there will not be any other water source available until the Dochia lodge.

Useful information

On Ceahlau mountains so not stray from the marked trail for two reasons:
1. As we found out from our group leader, wild animals stay away from these trails to avoid possible human contact, so as long as you’re on them, you’re the safest you can be.
2. Access anywhere else than on the marked paths is strictly forbidden on the Ceahlau National Park’s entire territory.

Tourist Trails

Several trails on Ceahlau lead up to the Dochia lodge, we ended up choosing the one marked by a blue line, which is a path of medium difficulty that took us 2.5 – 3 hours to cover. Starting out with a medium steep incline in a deciduous forest, the path gets steeper and steeper, starting the actual climb of about 1000 meters altitude difference between the starting point (the Izvorul Muntelui lodge) and the Ceahlau plateau. It’s a pretty exhausting path, but the reward at the end is well worth it.

Having reached the Dochia lodge at around 5 PM, we got a very pleasant surprise in the shape of a renovated lodge with great comfort, way above our expectations.
What followed was a well-deserved dinner and leisure time, occupying our pre-booked rooms and taking photos of the sunset.

As night fell we admired the star-filled sky, which due to the total lack of light pollution had more stars on it than I had ever seen. Our group leader even held a small but interesting lecture on constellations.

Points of interest on Ceahlau

The next day we woke up at 6 am just to look at the sunrise, after which we went back to bed for another 2-3 hours. We then made a mini-excursion to the Toaca peak, the second tallest peak in the Ceahlau massive, with a height of 1904 m. The view from up there is stunning; it’s just one of those views that you can describe and photograph, but the only way to truly appreciate it in all its splendor is to see it with your own eyes.

A short eating break followed our return to the lodge after which we packed our bags and started our way back down to Izvoru Muntelui. We chose a longer route this time, marked by a red line and taking us through Poiana Maicilor. It was a beautiful trail with amazing panoramas, passing Claii lui Miron and with a 30-minute break in Poiana Maicilor.

All in all, it was an unforgettable weekend which I recommend you all try as soon as you can. Special thanks to the organizers and my friends.