Cave tour, Apuseni Mountains

Gârdea Seacă (780 m) - Ghețarul de la Scărișoara Cave (1.165 m) - Ionele's Cave (890 m) - Coiba Mică Cave (1.030 m) - Coiba Mare Cave (1.030 m) - Izbucul Tăuzului (850 m) - - Gârdea Seacă - The Dobreștilor Coitčče (762 m)

Access

The meeting point in this cave tour in the Apuseni Mountains was in Gârdea Seacă, Alba county. From Alba Iulia there are 150 km to be covered in 2.5 hours via DN74, DN74A, DN75 until after the town of Izvoarele, then turn right on DJ750 for the last 4 km. From Oradea it is 135 km in 2.5 hours via E79, DN75, DJ750. From Cluj-Napoca it is 150 km in 3 hours via DN1, DJ103K, DN1R, DJ750. From Deva it's 150 km in 3 hours via E673, E79, DN74, DN74A, DN75, DJ750. From Zalău it is 150 km in 3 hours via E81, DN1G, DN1R, DJ750. There are alternative routes. There are alternative routes.

About hiking

This hike cave tour in the Apuseni Mountainsis easy, practicable in all seasons. The main objectives of this hike are the caves and spurts described in the subtitle, some famous, such as the Glacier Cave at Scărișoara, others with certain superlatives, which I will come back to. In order to reduce travel time between the sights, we traveled partly on wheels. Of the total of 45 km we covered about 10 km on foot, including cave explorations. Flashlights or lighting sources are necessary.

Route map

(click on objectives for extended version)

Technical box

Difficulty: easy

Duration / distance: 6 hours of which 4 hours on foot including exploration / 45 km of which 10 km on foot including exploration

Markings: blue triangle at Scărișoara; blue dot at Izbucul Tăuz; other arrow markers

Water sources: less in Scarișoara

Minimum altitude: 730 meters above sea level, at the confluence of the Gârda Seacă and Ordâncușa valleys, point 16 on the map

Maximum altitude: 1.320 mdm, near Stânișoara peak, point 7 on the map

Level difference: +1.300 m / -1.300 m, but on foot +300 m / -300 m

Remarks: accessible in all seasons, can be partly traveled on wheels, equipped with flashlight

1. The Glacier Cave of Scărișoara

From Gârdea Seacă we follow by car the DC132 for 2 km upstream the Polița Valley to the hamlet of Ghețari. From the road, the blue triangle marker or arrow signs lead us in 10 minutes to the cave entrance. You can visit the cave daily between 10am-5pm, if you pay 15 ron full ticket or 10 ron reduced ticket. We allocated 45 minutes to this main objective, of which 30 minutes actually in the cave.

The Scărișoara Glacier Cave is the largest underground glacier in Romania. It is located at 1165 m altitude, at the edge of the karst plateau Scărișoara, 720 m long and 105 m deep. Access is through a wide 48 m deep and 60 m in diameter. You visit the Great Hall and the Church, where there are some attractive stalagmites made of ice, which are, however, getting smaller from one year to the next. There is also an underground nival, but this is a scientific reserve and only accessible to cavers. The ice block has a volume of 70,000 cubic meters and an average thickness of 16 meters.

we get out of Scărișoara

ice stalagmite

The Cave of the Glacier at Scărișoara

glacier entrance

down to the glacier cave

path to the cave

country house

2. Ionele's Gate Cave

We get back to the car to cover the 15 km route Ghețari - Ocoale - Sfoartea on DJ750 and then the Ordâncușii Valley up to the Ordâncușii Gorges.

From here we walk up several metal stairs to the Poarta lui Ionele Cave. This cave can also be visited daily between 10am-5pm, if you pay the full ticket of 15 ron or the reduced ticket of 10 ron. The cave guide will tell you the story and legend of the outlaw Ionele.

The cave has a large portal 12 meters high. It has two rooms that can be visited, between which is a rocky threshold over which a waterfall forms in the active season. At the end of the second gallery, a 12 m deep lake forms in spring. Above this, however, there is another room that cannot be visited, where colonies of bats hibernate and live.

stalactite

exploring Ionele's Cave

staircase next to the dry waterfall

ice

me at Ionele's Gate

we climb up to the cave

3. Stone House - Coiba Mica Cave, Coiba Mare Cave - Stone House

We continue 13 km by car downstream on the Ordâncușii Valley and then upstream on the Gărda Seacă Valley through the village of Gârdea Seacă to the hamlet Casa de Piatră.

At the house with the blue roof you can find the guide who allows you to visit the Vârtop Glacier. The visit is organized by appointment on 0752.11.33.41. We couldn't visit it this time, so we concentrated on the other sights in the area.

We walked 1 km upstream in the continuation of the direction from which we came, from where we followed a short and rapid descent in the direction of Coiba Mica Cave. At the entrance to this cave there is a lake up to 12 m deep, which almost completely covers the portal of the cave, access to the cave is possible only for cavers and those equipped and experienced.

We return to the main road and after identifying the branch to the Vârtop Glacier above, we continue downhill to the signpost to the Coiba Mare Cave, which also descends short and steep.

Coiba Mare Cave is the cave with the largest portal in Romaniameasuring 47 m high and 74 m wide. The cave is 5 km long. With a source of light you can visit the Great Hall until it narrows and you find water.

The underground stream in Coiba Mica flows through Coiba Mare and will resurface in the Tăuz Reservoir, which we will visit soon.

We return to the car after 90 minutes of spectacular walking and exploring.

 

our group in Coiba Mare

I hit water

exploration in Coiba Mare

me in Coiba Mare

Coiba Mare - the biggest opening

Coiba Mare Cave

through the snow to the cave

Coiba Mica Cave

winter landscape

Coiba Mica

4. Tăuz spring

We drive down 3 km in the direction we came from until we reach the signpost to Izbucul Tăuz.

At the izbuc it takes about 15 minutes to descend on the blue dot marker through the forest. Cross the stream on an improvised bridge.

The Tăuz spring is spectacular if you study the map on the spot From under a high cliff, the stream comes out from the Coibe and forms a lake 6 meters deep. The water emerges from an oblique furrow that reaches a depth of 80 meters and is almost completely flooded. Aven Tăuz has not yet been fully explored, but is known to have two entrances and several underground lakes. It is spectacular and mysterious. Back to the car.

safe crossing

Tăuzului spring

the inclined gallery drops down to 80 meters deep

orientation decoys

through the forest

5. The Dobreștilor stream

The last route on wheels is 6 km. We go back through Gârdea Seacă until near the exit of the locality, where on the left side there is the Izbucul Cotețul Dobreștilor, right next to the road.

We found the spring dry, so we were able to enter the cave in the first gallery by the light of the telephones, until we hit water. Here we saw two bats hanging from the cave ceiling.

We leave the cave with the satisfaction of a full, successful day, in which we revisited places long visited and met some new ones.

me at the Dobreștilor' spring

The Dobreștilor stream

spring

liliac

Conclusion

Hiking cave tour in the Apuseni Mountains is one in which we explored the Scărișoara Glacier, the Poarta lui Ionele caves, Coiba Mica, Coiba Mare and the Tăuz and Cotețul Dobreștilor springs. It is an easy tour, where we decided to drive between most of the sights to see as much as possible and explore the caves a bit. The Scărișoara Glacier Cave, Poarta lui Ionele Cave are all developed and access costs 15 ron. It's the same at the Vârtop Glacier where you need to give a day's notice to visit the cave (0752.11.33.41).

All the best!

Steps:

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