A route that offers a special experience through scenery of great beauty that doesn’t reveal itself easily, hidden behind high ridges. Like most routes in this area, the first part is on asphalt and crosses Ortoaia and Cozănești villages on a gentle climb.
Once past Cozănești, where the asphalt ends, a climb of about 3 kilometres begins. Don’t be put off by it: much of it runs along a ridge with wonderful views north (Ortoaia village) and south (the hamlet of Bâda and Dorna Arini village). In this area there are still locals who never wanted to move down to the “valley”; they live on these ridges and work the land inherited from their ancestors. You can see their main activity, raising livestock, and on summer days enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass.
The route keeps climbing through pastures and small spruce woods for about a kilometre. It then reaches a mountain clearing near Busuiocului peak, a place of special significance. This was the locals’ favourite spot for “văcării”: wooden shelters used mainly in summer, when farmers took their cattle up to the mountain pastures. They spent most of the summer here, grazing the cows and making cheese, and came down to the village only when they were needed for the haymaking. Sadly this beautiful tradition is dying out, as young people are no longer drawn to it.
After the shelters, the route changes direction and starts descending along another ridge, parallel to the one you climbed. The views from here are just as beautiful. You can see the town of Vatra Dornei to the north-west and, beyond it in the distance, Oușoru peak in the Suhard Mountains. From here you can enjoy a long descent through the hamlets of Bâda and Gogoseni, reaching the main road towards the end.
Even though it’s a hard route, we encourage you to try it.
- Difficulty: hard
- Maximum altitude: 1,365 m
- Length: 19.3 km
- Total ascent: 660 m
- Total descent: 662 m