Hike Romania

Piatra Craiului Romania day hike – Zărneşti Canyon and Curmătura Chalet

Hike Romania is one of our soul projects in which we want to share with you our newly discovered passion for hiking. Today’s hike explores Piatra Craiului National Park Romania and without further ado let’s get into it.

Trail: Botorg’s Fountain– Zărneşti Canyon – Curmătura Chalet – Zănoaga Medow – Botorg’s Fountain

Duration: 5h (without breaks)

Distance: 10km

Difficulty: easy-medium with no technical or dangerous portions

Water source: Botorog’s Fountain, Curmătura Chalet.

How to get to Botorg’s Fountain: From Bucharest drive towards Predeal – Râșnov – Zărnești. Using Waze or Google Maps you will get right at the starting point of the trail. Search for “Fantana lui Botorog“. The condition of the access road is good (the last few km are done on a dirt road), suitable for any car. You can park the car on the side of the road.

Taxes: Piatra Craiului National Park entry ticket – 5 RON (approx. 1 euro) when visiting between 1st May and 31st October. Free entry for children under 14 years old. You can buy your ticker for the park’s staff at the entry.

Botorog’s Fountain – Zărnești Canyon: 30-40 min

From Botorog’s Fountain keep walking on the dirt road and admire the narrow canyon called Prăpăstiile Zărneștilor. You can also do some rock climbing here if you are into it. After 30-40 minutes of walking inside the canyon, on the right side, you’ll see the sign to Curmătura Chalet. From here take the path to the right into the forest following the blue stripe.

Zărnești Canyon – Curmătura Chalet: 1h30 – 2h

The first part of the trail is a constant uphill hike through the forest but don’t give up, because after approximately 1 hour you’ll be rewarded with this amazing view over the Piatra Craiului Mountains. Take a break, have a sandwich, and catch your breath for the last part of the trail to Curmătura Chalet. After this meadow, before entering the forest again, you can find a freshwater spring.

Curmătura Chalet – Zănoaga Medow – Botorog’s Fountain

At Curmatura Hut you can relax, have a cold beer, and some well-deserved food. The food and drinks are tasty and pretty cheap (3 euros for a main dish) so you can really indulge yourself. You can also camp outside the hut and proceed to other trails from here. When you re ready to leave, follow the yellow stripe sign back to Botorog’s Fountain. On your way down, you’ll cross through Zănoaga Medow, where we found these super-cute and friendly puppies. Luckily we had some leftover sandwiches for them. The last part of the trail is a long and steep downhill walk through the forest back to the starting point of the hike.