Racoș Geological Complex, Perșani Mountains

1. Racoș parking - Basalt columns (MTTC quarry)

350 m / 10 minutes / easy

With the map we received at the entrance, we oriented ourselves and took a shortcut directly to the columns. We descended slightly, then followed the signposted road. It's a dirt road that leads you in about 300 meters to a seemingly unworldly place. From the parking lot you can go down to the base of the basalt columns (point 2 on the map).

Basalt columns

Racoș basalt columns they recall geological formations Detailed in Alba County. The impressive basalt columns of Racos, monument of nature, were formed by the rapid cooling of volcanic lava, the culprit being the nearby volcano, which we'll get to, bear with us. They date back to the first eruption 1.3 to 1.4 million years ago. On a panel we read some interesting details which we then identify in the overwhelming image before us. On the white / gray / greenish rock formations, we can distinguish 3 zones. The first ones at the base are vertical, parallel, side-by-side formations in the form of 6 - 8 meter columns with an apparently pentagonal cross-section, obviously not uniform in reality. Above these are some horizontal "deposits" resulting from the solidification of lava flow, the thickness of this basalt layer is about 2 meters. The third layer is again a vertical one, of columns similar to the first layer, but less high. The total height of the basalt columns measures 10-15 meters. There are several rows of columns, apart from the most beautifully highlighted ones, there are some a little lower, like an organ, and others off the main access road, of the same family, but less spectacular. The basalt quarry was quarried until the 1960s.

2. Basalt columns - Emerald Lake

1 km / 30 minutes / easy

We follow the signposts that really provide the best access. We return near the parking lot. After going up the "car" road, we descend on the other side of the road to a beautiful spot. There is a higher vantage point (point 3 on the map) and another on the lakeshore (point 4 on the map).

Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake is concealed in a brood. It is surrounded on at least one of its long sides by basaltic column-like formations. These give it a bluish-green color, depending on the light. The lake is stocked with fish and is about 18 meters deep and rising. The lake was formed by the accumulation of percipitates, but it also has a spring. Its level varies with evaporation, precipitation and snow melt.

3. Emerald Lake - The extinct volcano (Racoș)

3 km / 1 hour / easy

From the lakeshore we turn left at the junction near the parking lot, then continue left at a sharp angle on a road that skirts the emerald lake to the north, forming a U. In places the area was a bit boggy, soaked with water from melting snow. This route leads us uphill to a lookout point on the rim of the volcano crater (point 5 on the map). From here we can go around the volcano to the south, passing by the antennas (point 6 on the map) to the northern end of the crater (point 7 on the map).

The extinct volcano

Here it worked Heghes Hill basaltic slag quarry. The place is known as Stins Volcano. Yes, it really is a volcano, and it's the last volcano to erupt in Romania today.
I'd read about reddish soil and poor vegetation, but it didn't really strike me that way. Maybe only on the inner cone of the volcano. But at the bottom of the crater, vegetation has grown, trees. The terrain shows samples of volcanic slag, ash, volcanic bombs, pumice, basalt and solidified lava. The summit of the volcano is 612 m high, but climbing it is not recommended due to the steep, unpaved trail.

4. The extinct volcano - Racoș parking lot

1.3 km / 30 minutes / easy

We spent about 15 minutes at the mouth of the extinct volcano. Then we descended straight down through the grassy grass to the "car" road on the other side of Emerald Lake (viewpoint 8 on the map), which I also photographed from this angle.