Mountain trails · Rarău–Giumalău Mountains
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 · Rarău hermitage · today,
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 · Rarău hermitage · today,
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
From the Rarău hermitage the path climbs through the forest on Bâtca Runculețului and Runculiciorul, up the Ciurgău valley; after 2 km you come out into the subalpine zone, with Piatra Zimbrului on your left, meet the red triangle from Slătioara and reach the hut.
Mountain trail
Elevation profile
The Rarău hermitage (Sihăstria) has ties to the time of Petru Rareș and was moved to its present site at the end of the 18th century. It stands at almost 1,400 m among the spruces, with an icon that draws people from all over Moldavia.
Here the bell rings against the forest. Enter in silence, leave in silence; this is no place for flash photos.
The Popii Rarăului (1,628 m) are limestone towers lined up along the ridge like priests at a service, hence the name. You see them best from Șaua Ciobanilor, in morning light.
Next to them, Piatra Zimbrului: a vertical limestone wall 600 m long and 100 m high, which climbers ascend on climbing routes. Did you know that the bison (zimbri), the animals that gave it its name, disappeared from Bucovina's forests in the 18th century? The rock remembers them.
Flora
Fauna
The species above are those documented in the area by the protected-area administration; what you see depends on season, hour and luck.
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.
Sleep at the foot of the mountain
La Cuib is 33 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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Once you're back down
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.
Via Transilvanica