Zugreni – Pârâul Colbu – Cabana Rarău

What the walking is like

The link between the Bistrița Mountains and Rarău: 1.5 km up the Colbu Zugreni valley, then forest road along the stream for another 4 km, right and, after another 2 km, a climb through forest to the county road from Chiril, which leads to the hut.

What we'd tell you at the gate

• Good in combination with the Zugreni Gorge, in the morning.

Not to miss on the way

• 1

  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.

• 2

  The Pietrele Doamnei stand at 1,634 m and are reef limestone: the corals of a warm sea 140 million years ago, raised to the sky. Legend has it that Petru Rareș's wife hid her treasure here, and the mountain's name comes from Rareș.

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 duration is the one in Suceava County's official guide (Salvamont); the kilometres and driving minutes to the trailhead are from Google Maps.

• 4 hoursone way, A to B, at your usual pace
• 2½ hoursback the same way (estimate)
• 6½ hoursout and back, with short breaks
• 5–6 hoursone way, if you stop for photos and eat on the grass
• 6–7 hoursone way, with children, grandparents or a pack full of “just in case”