Marking: red triangle
Time to make the route: 2 hours
Distance: 4 km
Level differences: 411 m, an easy route to make all year long

The hiking route starts from DN 12 C, which goes through Cheile Bicazului, at the point where the forest road Bicajel starts. The trail goes up in the forest in a slow slope and before it reaches Piatra Rosie it becomes abrupt and full of stones. The trail becomes a little harder to make but the scenery makes your effort worth it.

After that, the trail goes back into the forest and you follow the red triangle until you reach Ghilgos Plane. The trail wriggles through tall firs heavy with snow: your eye catches all sorts of wonderful details of nature. Once you reach the plane the entire valley is at your feet.

You go through the plane and after a while we reach the belvedere point: Piatra Ghilgos, 1378 m. From here you can see all the surrounding peeks from Cheile Bicazului. This hiking route is accessible all year long but during winter it’s best to have full equipment because of the heavy snow.

Marking: red triangle, from Saua Cupaşului red circle
Time to make the route: 3 hours
Distance: 5 km
Level difference: 425 m, difficult to make during winter

During winter this hiking route is difficult to make and we recommend full equipment in order to enjoy the beauty of the mountain fully secured.

The route starts at km 29 from the National Road 12C and the markings are red triangles (the starting point is localized right after the tunnel exit, on the first parking on the right). From the start, you’ll be facing the mountain, climbing on a narrow trail between tall firs. Your efforts are quickly reworded by a spectacular frozen waterfall on Lapos Creek.

We are now in Lapos Canyon: on our left, along the trail, we can see Cupas Rock – on the right Lapos Creek with small waterfalls bordered by an enormous rock wall. After a while the hiking becomes easier and soon we leave the canyon behind us.

The route goes now to La Sodron where there are some hay storehouses of local villagers. From here, the trail continues to the left towards Saua Cupas, the last hiking portion of this route. On top of this hill there is a belvedere point to the surrounding peeks, the most well known being Suhardul Mare (1504,2 m) and Suhardul Mic (1344,5 m).

The descent will be made by way of the red circle marking. From Saua Cupas you’ll go to the left until you reach the forest. There the trail continues until the intersection with the forest road, which is easy to recognize by the electric poles. At this intersection, go left and you’ll continue to walk until you reach the National Road DN 12C, a couple of hundred of meters from the starting point.

The route starts on the national road DN12C, right before the place called Poarta de Piatra (The Stone Door). From here the trail enters the forest and climbs to the base of the Stone “Piatra Maria” where your eyes are drawn to the big pieces of rock torn apart from the big stone. After this point the road takes you through the forest and on a vast plane called Saua Tifra, located at 1002 m altitude, from where you can see the Valley of the Bicajel. Before your eyes is one of the most spectacular scenery you’ll ever see: enormous rocks that seem to guard the entrance in the Bicajel Valley.

The steps take us through the small village called Bicajel which seems to have a special something: it seems separated from the rest of the world. Almost frozen in time, like a memory of how a true mountain village used to look many, many years ago. After we pass the village we reach a forest-road from where we can admire the stones Suhardul Mic, Gradina Zanelor and Fagetul Ciucului. It doesn’t take long and we arrived in the center of the resort Lacul Rosu. The total length of the hiking route is about 3,5 km. When you return you can do it on the national road and admire the famous Cheile Bicazului under ice.

Located at the base of the famous reservation Cheile Bicazului, in the upper part of the village Bicaz Chei,  Cheile Sugaului is in the shape of a canyon with a length of 350 m where there are several small waterfalls. Only in the winter season, the cold snow, transforms the waterfalls, along with the entire area in a relaxing place where incredible wild scenery comes together with big pieces of ice on the rocks and water. You’ll benefit from a perfect trip in one of the most valued rock formation reservations in all of Romania.

If you take this trip, the route is organized at the cottage Ecolog with steps and handrails, so that all tourists can have a safe trip. If you plan to admire the frozen waterfalls you’ll need to be professionally equipped for mountain routes and go inside the canyon. And if you’ll enter the canyon, it doesn’t matter how much you’ll be able to advance: the strange ice formations and rocks will worth all the effort.

The road from Piatra Neamt to Cheile Bicazului is like a photo album, where you can admire the genious of nature on winter and the beauty of the scenery. The white coat that shines on the hills and forests, the white carpets that covers the planes, the simple beauty of villages scattered on the hills sourind the road, all these accompany you until you reach the gate that enters the Cheile Bicazului.

From here you seem to walk alone through the rocks and through the icy cold. It seems that you entered a fairytale land where time stopped to look at the beauty of these places. Only the wind flies through the trees covered in sugar, leaving behind it a trail of white snow. Together with it, there is the roar of the water that fights its way through icy shores.

Winter has completely covered the rocks from the Cheile Bicazului. A lace of ice covers the rocks in incredible shapes of different colors and sizes. From place to place, where the sun rays manage to get down to the road you seem to witness a desperate try to revive all: the sun seems to try and melt the ice and to awaken the sleepy nature.

The view is more and more spectacular as you go and finally you reach the top. Here you discover a lake covered in snow and ice. Only the trees that break the ice reminds us that under the ice there is a lake where on the summer time you can take a walk with a rented boat.

The time slowly passes by and the hours that we spend admiring the beauty of the nature seem to fly. Only the cold that entered our bones determines us to get back in the car and return to Piatra Neamt where we’ll stop for a mug of mulled wine and to talk about what we’ve seen.

The herbaceous vegetation is formed by circular planes and above 1400 m we can see a grass called spiky. At over 1,900 m we meet grasslands dominated by the horns, and to the limit of the forest we can see clusters of Mountain Pine, juniper, Smirdar, blueberry and cranberry. Here we can also see the tree called aurochs – a protected tree. Meadows located in the lower part of the forest area are dominated by avascior, golden avaz and meadow fescue.

The flowers that are present in these parts are: Omagua, the bell, the blue aster, the sweet pea, the carnation, the brave’s cross, the honey bear and larch. The medicinal plants from this area are:  arnica, bilberry, yarrow, chamomile and species of fungi: Boletus edulis, galbiorul, Rascov, hulubitele, ghebele or opinticii. Rare species found in these forests are examples of yew, and blood of the brave.

An important role in the flora of the Tarcau Mountains is played by the reservation Gosman, that is located at an altitude of 700-1300 m on the left side of the river Gosman in the commune Tarcau. Here we can see some old trees, of 140 – 260 years, like spruce, fir and beech .



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