Vârghișului Gorges, Perșani Mountains

1. Visitor Center (570 m) - Under the Stone (595 m)

1 km / 20 minutes / easy / blue cross

From Visitor Center, which on the map I found listed as a tourist information center continues on the road marked with blue crossonwards, towards the Varghis Valley. At the entrance we read the map of the area and take a group photo. There is also a sign with the visitor's fees - 5 lei adults, 3 lei children / students, 5 lei car.

We walk through a muddy area next to a gravelled property, which leads after about 500 meters to a wide clearing. It's a place with fire glasses and equipped with public toilets, which I think in the warm season gets populated accordingly. The limestone aspect of the relief soon appears before our eyes. We follow the so-called Key Path. The river dug its bed through the Jurassic limestones that it encountered on its way, forming these gorges.

We are at tips over the Varghis River. This, like the others we will encounter are solid and well anchored in the banks. Just after the wooden bridge, we find 3 warnings: bears, snakes and falling rocks! From another source of documentation we found out that otters also live in the Varghis waters. From here begins the loop trail that we will follow. We are at the point Under the Stone, marked 2 on the map.

2. Under the Stone (595 m) - Șura Cailor Cave (650 m)

0.8 km / 30 minutes / easy / blue cross

We continue downhill, through the gorge. We reach the first parts with light snow and at a small obstacle we have little problems of balance. Will this be the road from now on? It wasn't long in the snow, so we regained our courage. Here, somewhere on the right flank as we go is Kőcsűr Cavebut there is no signpost to it. We follow the river loop. On the bank we photographed the frozen water, a sign that it wasn't exactly warm.

We cross the second solid bridge after wondering what number the guy who left footprints in the snow was wearing? We are back on the right bank or left flank, whichever you prefer. The blue cross marking is very good, you can't miss the trail. However, I have to point out a detail difference between the physical position of the trail on the ground and on the map in the Our Mountains application. The trail will stay on the right bank longer than it is shown on the map. On mapy.cz the map is correct. On the right it rises Szechenyi Rock, above which is a lookout point, but who gets there? After another bend in the river, on the left bank is Spelaeus Hotel Cave and a little further ahead, on the right bank (on the left bank of the river) is the huge opening of the Pesterii Orbán Balázs, which we will get to soon.

Looking to the right to better capture the large cave opening and Csudalo Stone rising above it, we soon reach the third bridge, where on our side, on the right bank, at the horse's nose as they say, we see another jewel, another cave.

It is Sura Cailor Cave or cave no. 8 or Lőcsűr Cave. We climb a little steeply, helped by a safety cable and we position ourselves at the cave entrance. We light the flashlights and enter the cave. It's a dry, horizontal cave in which we went about a hundred meters, maybe more. We didn't notice any stalactitic formations, but we did see some crystal-like insertions in the limestone of the cave. We're at point 3 on the map.

3. Șura Cailor Cave (650 m) - Orbán Balázs Cave (650 m)

0.2 km / 10 minutes / medium / yellow stripe

We exit the cave. Above the cave is Csala's Tower. Above, on a very steep path from what I have read you can climb to one of the spectacular caves in these gorges, the Cave of the Tatars or Tatarlik, which offers a fierce image of the entrance to the cavity, due to the two entrances like 2 eyes between which is a rocky part, the resulting image resembling a fierce face with 2 huge eyes and a ugly nose. In a way I'm sorry we didn't go up, but we still had a lot to visit this day. We return to the river where the river awaits us third bridge. As we cross the bridge, 2 options are open: continue on the Key Path to the left or turn a little to the right to visit the coolest cave in the keys. At this point we also meet the yellow band marker. We turn about 200 meters and we find ourselves somewhere under Orbán Balázs Fishery. From here we admire the opposite slope which culminates in Tiva Peak (935 m).

4. Orbán Balázs Cave or Merești Cave (650 m)

Orbán Balázs Fishery is dug in Wonder Rockon the left bank of the Varghis. The path climbs 2 flights of metal stairs that facilitate access to the mouth of the cave. We are at point 4 on the map.

Orban Balazs fishery is also called Meresti Sea Cave or cave no. 14 in Cheile Varghisului. Until the discovery of the Tausoare Cave in the Rodnei Mountains it was considered the longest cave in Eastern Carpathians, measuring about 1.4 km. We are somewhat in the central area of Vârghișului Gorges.

Orban Balazs fishery is of great speleological importance. It consists of two main halls: Great Hall yes Fekete Istvan Hall. Fekete was the speleologist who, in 1835, mapped the cave in such detail that his maps are still valid and used today. The value of the cave is given by the discoveries made, namely fossils of prehistoric man and ursus spelaeus, but also by its population with numerous species of bats, somewhere at the entrance there is a warning in this regard, so a room is closed for this reason.

The cave is quite visited, even if it is not landscaped (except for the metal stairs and another one inside the cave) and not electrified. You can go up quite easily, without too many obstacles, if you have good flashlights. At one point we pass a metal gate in the middle of the road, but which can be bypassed on both sides. The cave's bumps are first of all very high. The cave is concreted, but does not show remarkable formations of stalactites, stalagmites and columns, or we did not notice them. It's dry. At a certain point it narrows, but you can move on, then the underground path becomes wide again. There comes an easy climbing area, and this is where the stairs are. We've walked and walked through the generous cave. I think I got quite close to the last room, which also seems to be the largest. About a kilometer from the entrance, the water deposited fragments of gemstones in the walls. On the way back I noticed that just before the main exit, there is a branch to a secondary exit. The cave has 5 entrances.

*Completion 2022: I heard that the cave is no longer visitable, and that the keys would be entered with a guide!

5. Orbán Balázs Cave (650 m) - branch (620 m)

0.4 km / 15 minutes / medium / yellow stripe

After having explored in our own way the Big Cave from Meresti we continue our way through the gorge, which is easy and pleasant, no problems, the path is clear, firm, marked blue cross and yellow band on this stretch.

We reach another branch of paths, not very well marked. Straight ahead, still through the gorge, at the water's edge on the blue cross and half right up the yellow strip.

We walked a little further through the gorge, as we had spotted a bridge suspended over the river, fixed on the side of the cliff for a good dozen meters. We return to the previous crossroads and from here we take the marker yellow band. We are at point 5 on the map. The vines indicate the season we are in.

6. Ramification (620 m) - Poiana Pietrii (refuge) (710 m)

0.5 km / 30 minutes / medium, difficult / yellow lane

Up, up, up. We gain some altitude and through the forest growing on this steep slope we admire the Varghisului gorge, which can be seen further and further down, far away from us. Next is an area with a few helpful and more slippery chains at the base of a cliff, but not dangerous. It resembles the trail from Sirul Stancilor in the Piatra Mare Massif, but in miniature. In fact, we're now climbing Pipasok Hill (745 m).

We emerge above the forested area and have a perspective of the peaks flanking the gorges. We are in Poiana Pietriiat point 6 on the map. Break for lunch and rest for half an hour in the upper saddle where on the right of the path we see and a refuge in good condition.

7. Poiana Pietrii (refuge) (710 m) - branch (720 m)

0.35 km / 10 minutes / easy / yellow lane

Restarting. The indicators in the saddle seem insufficient for orientation. With difficulty we spot the next marker somewhere far away on a tree. We have two options. Follow ahead yellow band until it meets the marker at the top of the wide meadow red dot or to look for the unmarked shortcut to the right past the refuge and past the lookout point on the summit on the right, which meets the red point further on. We opted for the first option because the wide glen was snow-covered, only here colco at long distances there was a marker on each tree. I don't know if when it's not snowing there aren't some marks at ground level. Anyway on fog orientation poses some problems in this place. I used the map from the Our Mountains app and walked the supposed yellow band trail until I reached the supposed red dot trail. I ended up at point 7 on the map.

8. Branching (720 m) - path Șura de Piatră - sub Piatră (595 m)

2.1 km / 50 minutes / easy / red dot

From the branch we were guided by the map. We entered The Cape Cape Trail, so called because it passes close to Tatar Chapelto other red dot signs, which finally confirmed that we were on the right road, on the red dotwhich will guide us onward. From now on we were going to go down through the forest on the red dot on Koecsuer Trail (Stone Furrow). This leads besides Koecsuer Cave (Stone Cave) down into the Varghis valley, on the route we followed in the morning, thus closing the loop we set out to follow, right at bridge no. 1. We are at the point Under the stone, marked 10 on the map.

9. Under the Stone (595 m) - Visitor Center (520 m)

1 km / 20 minutes / easy / blue cross

On the left somewhere is Izbucul de Jos. We are back on blue cross at bridge 1 and we exit the pier to the place where we parked the car, following the way we came. I counted 15 parked cars, so there must have been about 50 tourists in the pier. We finished the route. The last segment of the road is identical to the first, traveled in reverse of course.