Cabana Fântânele – Poiana Nicanului – Poiana Viezuri

What the walking is like

The only easy route in the range and the only one that does not lead to the Dochia hut: one hour, 2.3 km, at 1,200 m, with 180 m of ascent and 230 m of descent. It is a link between trails 4 and 5, from the Fântânele hut below the Fântânele springs. The path is gentle, dipping and rising, and reaches Poiana Nicanului. It crosses the Nican stream, and twenty minutes later a clearing opens with a view of the gullies below Piatra Lată and Panaghia. A short stretch among tumbled rocks remains before Poiana Viezuri, where it meets trail 5.

What we'd tell you at the gate

• Trail 8 in the official list of the Ceahlău National Park.
• Waymarking: yellow triangle.
• Official time: 1 h up.
• Elevation gain 230 m, length 2.3 km, difficulty ușor, figures published by the park authority.
• The only trail the park authority rates as easy.
• The trail can be walked in winter too, after checking the weather beforehand.
• The waymarking, times, elevation gain and length are those published by the Ceahlău National Park authority. The driving distance from La Cuib is calculated on the OpenStreetMap road network.

Not to miss on the way

• 1

  The only route the park classifies as easy, and the only one that does not climb to the plateau.

• 2

  The clearing past the Nican stream opens the view towards the gullies below Piatra Lată and Stânca Panaghia.

• 3

  The trail can be walked in winter too, after checking the weather beforehand.

What else you can do on the trail

• 🏔 Toaca peak, 1,904 m, with its metal steps and the weather station.
• The Duruitoarea waterfall, a protected natural monument, on trail 5.
• The scientific reserves of Polița cu Crini and Ocolașul Mare, and the botanical ones at Toaca and Gardul Stănilelor.
• 🏛 The Ceahlău National Park visitor centre, in Durău.

What grows and what moves along the trail

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

The times, waymarking, elevation gain and length are published by the Ceahlău National Park authority.

• 1 hone way, to the top, at your usual pace
• back the same way (estimate)
• 1 hout and back, with short breaks
• 1 hone way, if you stop for photos and eat on the grass
• one way, with children, grandparents or a pack full of “just in case”