Mountain trails · Călimani Mountains

Sărișor – 12 Apostoli hermitage

Waymarkingblue triangle
EffortLow
TechnicalEasy
TypeTraverse A → B
Duration2–3 hours

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 · Sărișor · today,

  • Sunrise 07:06
  • Sunset 16:58
  • Daylight 9 h 51 min −2 min vs yesterday

The times are for the starting point. Between ridges the light goes earlier than the clock says, so turn back a good hour before sunset.

Weather · Sărișor · today,

6° min -3° cloudy
  • Precipitation0%
  • Wind6 km/h · gusts 13
  • UV index2,7
  • Elevation1.028 m
  • Fri 5° -2°
  • Sat 2° -4°
  • Sun 6° -4°
  • Mon 8° -2°
  • Tue 7° -3°

The forecast is for where you set off. Up on the ridge, count on a few degrees less and on wind you cannot see from below.

What the walking is like

The easiest way into the Călimani: from Sărișor, on a cart track and path, to the hermitage below the 12 Apostoli. From the hermitage, the statue-rocks are another half hour. The trail you do with the children too.

Mountain trail

  1. Sărișor · 950 m
  2. Cart track through hay meadows
  3. 12 Apostoli hermitage · 1,500 m

What we'd tell you at the gate

  • Continuation: the 12 Apostoli (the reserve) in 30–40 min from the hermitage.
  • On Sundays, a service at the hermitage; enter in silence.

Elevation profile

950 m1,500 m
Sărișor (Șaru Dornei) (landmark: the village centre; the marked start is at the exit towards the mountain)+550 m of ascent · 2–3 hours

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.

  • 2–3 hoursone way, A to B, at your usual pace
  • 2 hoursback the same way (estimate)
  • 4–5 hoursout and back, with short breaks
  • 4–4 hoursone way, if you stop for photos and eat on the grass
  • 4–5 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 60 minutes by car 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.

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If you liked this one

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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