Pojorâta – Izvorul Giumalăului – Fundu Colbului saddle – Cabana Zugreni

What the walking is like

A traverse from the Moldova valley to the Bistrița valley: 12 km on an improved road up the Izvorul Giumalăului valley to the Fundu Colbului saddle, where the red stripe comes down off Giumalău, then 15 km of forest road through the woods along the Colbu to Cabana Zugreni and the Bistrița gorge.

What we'd tell you at the gate

• Long, but almost flat in effort; very good by bike too.
• The return: a car in Zugreni or the train from Vatra Dornei.

Not to miss on the way

• 1

  Giumalău stands at 1,857 m and is the highest peak around; from the top, on a clear day, you count six ranges: Rarău, the Obcini, Rodna, Călimani, Bistrița, Ceahlău. The subalpine meadow on the ridge is thick with blueberries in August.

• 2

  The Zugreni gorge, at the foot of the trail, is the narrowest section of the Bistrița: walls over 200 m high, with the road and the river squeezed between them. Rafters stopped at the hut for hundreds of years, until the 1960s.

What else you can do on the trail

• MTB: the forest road is good mountain-bike ground; enduro only with the forestry district's consent.
• Sport fishing on the Bistrița at Zugreni, with a permit; rafting and kayaking at Crucea, further down.

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

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 official guide says 5–6 hours; at 27 km and +585 m, 6–7 hours is realistic. The duration is the one in Suceava County's official guide (Salvamont); the kilometres and driving minutes to the trailhead are from Google Maps.

• 6–7 hoursone way, A to B, at your usual pace
• 4½ hoursback the same way (estimate)
• 10½–11½ hoursout and back, with short breaks
• 9–10 hoursone way, if you stop for photos and eat on the grass
• 10–13 hoursone way, with children, grandparents or a pack full of “just in case”