Mountain trails · Călimani Mountains

Gruiu Monument – Poiana Izvoarele

Waymarkingblue stripe
EffortLow
TechnicalModerate
TypeTraverse A → B
Duration1 hour
Ascent+100 m

A linear trail: you start in one place and finish in another. Either walk back the same way, leave a car at the far end or use the train/a transfer; we'll tell you at the gate what works.

Daylight · Gruiu Monument · today,

  • Sunrise 07:01
  • Sunset 19:23
  • Daylight 12 h 21 min −3 min vs yesterday

Times for the trailhead. Between the ridges it gets dark earlier: turn back an hour before sunset.

Weather · Gruiu Monument · today,

14° min 6° cloudy
  • Precipitation0%
  • Wind12 km/h · gusts 30
  • UV index5,3
  • Elevation1.712 m
  • Mon
  • Tue
  • Wed -0°
  • Thu
  • Fri

Forecast for the trailhead. On the ridge it is colder and windier.

What the walking is like

The one-hour link between the main ridge (at the monument) and Poiana Izvoarelor, with water and resting places. Not a trail in itself, but the shortcut you take down from the ridge to shelter.

Mountain trail

  1. Gruiu Monument · 1,640 m
  2. Subalpine meadow
  3. Poiana Izvoarelor · 1,540 m

What we'd tell you at the gate

  • Useful in bad weather: from the ridge to the clearing in 60 minutes.

Elevation profile

1,640 m1,540 m
Gruiu Monument (ridge, on foot only)+100 m of ascent · 1 oră

Worth knowing about the whole range →

What else you can do on the trail

  • Ski touring in winter, on the open ridges (only with experience and avalanche kit).
  • 🐴 Horse riding: tours from Gura Haitii and Poiana Negrii.
  • Mountain biking on the old logging roads from Gura Haitii.

What grows and what moves along the trail

Flora

  • dwarf pine and juniper on the plateaus
  • mountain peony at Iezerul Călimanului (reserve)
  • blueberry and cranberry on the subalpine meadows
  • spruce up to 1,700 m, then alpine zone

Fauna

  • Carpathian red deer and chamois (reintroduced in the Călimani)
  • brown bear, wolf, lynx
  • capercaillie in the spruce stands

The species above are those documented in the area by the protected-area administration; what you see depends on season, hour and luck.

How long it takes, honestly

A linear trail: the time is one way (A → B). If you return the same way, add about two thirds; or leave a car at the far end / take the train. The duration is the one in Suceava County's official guide (Salvamont); the kilometres and driving minutes to the trailhead are from Google Maps.

  • 1 hourone way, A to B, at your usual pace
  • 0½ hoursback the same way (estimate)
  • 1½ hoursout and back, with short breaks
  • 1–2 hoursone way, if you stop for photos and eat on the grass
  • 2–2 hoursone way, with children, grandparents or a pack full of “just in case”

Sleep at the foot of the mountain

Start from the gate, not from a car park

La Cuib is half an hour by car plus a walk uphill from the start of this trail: a fully equipped kitchen that is yours from first light, a place to dry boots, a garden for the evening. Three nights, the whole house, 1,797 lei.

Sources for the data on this page →

Information verified on . Opening times and prices change, check before you set off.

If you liked this one

A few more in the Munții Călimani

All 9 trails in the Munții Călimani

Information verified on . Opening times and prices change, check before you set off.

Once you're back down

Sleep twenty minutes from the trail.

The whole house is yours: wet boots by the door, packs in the hall, a late dinner. Parking in the yard and an early start, without waking anyone.

799 lei a night on Booking 599 lei / night See available dates