Walk No. 14 A walk in the Cerna mountains

You arrive to Cluj Napoca airport. You will have a FREE guided tour in the city, depending on your flight hours. Transfer to Baile Herculane where you will spend the night.

In the morning we drive upstream the Cerna river, one of the most scenic rivers of the Southern Carpathinas. After crossing the river on a little suspension bridge, we start out with a steep climb. After a while we have spectacular views of the Cerna Valley, with its steep rocky sides. Soon we arrive to a rock face, where we have to climb some ladders to continue. These ladders are pretty famous, and for some people living in this secluded area they are the only access to their homes and farms. This gives you an idea how isolated these communities are: no electricity, no roads, no infrastructure whatsoever, there is nothing here, just unspoiled nature. After climbing the ladders, we still have some steep sections to climb on a winding path, and we arrive to a small church. This is a very isolated place, but still inhabited. There are farms scattered here, even a church and a school, our path leads through corn and potato fields, meadows and we see a house here and there. Most farms have been abandoned, though. From the path we have a very nice panoramic view, the other side of the Cerna Valley with its untouched woods, sheer rock faces and many black pines. We continue on until we reach a small water-mill and then again some hamlets. The last section is only downwards, a descent of 1,5 hours through a scenic valley. (Medium hike, Length: 15 km. Altitude: 600 m up, 600 m down.)

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