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 · Cabana Zugreni · 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 · Cabana Zugreni · 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
The shortest and hardest way up Giumalău: from Zugreni, 200–300 m along the Colbu stream, then left up a small valley, 330 m of climbing in 500 m. On Piciorul Țepușelor the climb eases; after 2 km you come out onto the subalpine pasture, at 1,600 m the hut is 500 m away, then the summit, at 1,857 m.
Mountain trail
Elevation profile
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.
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.
Cabana Giumalău sits at 1,600 m, has power from a generator and a wind turbine, but serves no meals: here you carry the food up yourself.
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 55 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