One day trips: Tourist sites

 

1. Circuit: Țebea - Peștera Urșilor- Țebea (160 km)

Access: AR

From Tebea you drive on the national road DN76 into the direction of Oradea and stop in the village of Sudrigiu. From there, you take a side asphalt road trough the village of Chiscau up to the Bears' Cave.
The Bears' Cave shelters an extraordinary range of stalagmites and stalactites of different dimensions and forms. The cave, located at 482m above the see level, is very well preserved and the gallery accessible to the tourists is 500m long. The name of the cave comes from the numerous bears' fossils discovered here.


2. The Caraciului Lake Circuit (20 km)

Access : AR+CR+WR
The road is initially covered with asphalt, then metalled while its last portion turns into a forest path. The road follows upstream the narrow and afforested Caraciului Valley that starts at the Caraciului Lake. The Caraciului Lake is a dam lake dating back from the Roman times, when gold used to be exploited downstream from the lake.

When returning you can take the same road to Tebea or follow it only up to the bifurcation to the village of Caraci from where you follow the road that climbs to the left. Then, above the village of Caraci, you take a grassed road going to Baia-de-Cris and from there to Tebea.

3. The "Caraciului Peak" Circuit (altitude 900m)

Duration: 8h
Difficulty: medium, without tourist marks
Access: AR+CR+WR
The trip to the Caraciului Peak offers a wide perspective over the region, as the peak exceeds by 300m all the heights around. The road is identical with the one described at the "Caraciului Lake" circuit up to the bifurcation to the village of Caraci. From here you take the road to Caraci and after the first houses of the village come into sight, the climb to the Caraciului Peak begins.

As the road has no marks, a local guide is required.


4. The Gorges' Circuit: Tebea - Bulzestii de Jos - the Grohotului Bridge - the Uibarestilor Gorges - the Ribicioarei Gorges - Ribita - Tebea (30 km)

Access: AR+WR+CR
The circuit starts with the Grohotului Bridge - an imposing natural rocky bridge located in the village of Bulzestii de Jos - 15 km from Tebea, which can be reached by car or by local bus. The Grohot Stream runs under the bridge and then continues its course into the Uibarestilor Gorges. Of a charming wildness, bordered on both sides by huge impressive walnut trees, these gorges end where the Ribicioarei Valley starts and where you will come across the Ribicioarei Gorges.

From the Ribicioarei Gorges you return to Tebea through the village of Ribita.


5. The Circuit: Tebea - Brad - Bucium - Detunatele (120 km)

Access: AR+CR+WR

The purpose of the circuit is to visit two mountain peaks, approximately 1200m high, declared nature monuments. From Brad you take the road Brad-Campeni up to Abrud and from there you follow the asphalt road to the locality of Bucium.

The two peaks are formed of prismatic basalt rocks (basalt = gray volcanic rock used in constructions), of a nearly perfect verticality, which are a few meters high. The origin of these rocks is volcanic and the aspect of the columns stuck to one another makes you think of a huge basalt organ.

The name of "Detunatele" comes from the noise made from time to time by the collapse of fragments from the basalt rocks.

Apart from their unusual aspect, the peak of the "Detunatele" offers a perspective over the most important heights in the Apuseni Mountains.

A similar geological formation can be found in Europe only on the Island of Staffa in Scotland. The peak of the "Detunatele" can be reached from the locality of Bucium-Saîa, belonging to the commune of Bucium, after approximately 1 hour of walking.

Contact

04-Jul-2003