Ceahlău National Park
 
 
This park was declared a protected area in 1955, but the current limits were established in 2003. The 7,742.5 hectares of the park encompass the following reservations: Ocolaşul Mare (with the highest summit – 1,907 m), Poliţa cu Crini, Cascada Duruitoarea (30 m high) and Avenul mare (a spectacular sinkhole formed by waters in limestone).
Mount Ceahlău, Moldova’s precious stone, as the scholar Prince Dimitrie Cantemir called it in his famous work in Latin Descriptio Moldaviae (1716), has its share of spirituality. There have been sites of praying here …

 
 
Cheile Bicazului-Hăşmaş National Park
 
 
Created in 2000, covering some 6,575 hectares in two counties, i.e., Neamţ and Harghita, the landscape of this Park is extremely varied. Visitors can find here an ample and spectacular system of gorges, caves, and sinkholes (i.e., 88 such “sinkholes”), steep slopes and waterfalls as well as a picturesque naturally dammed lake called Lacul Roşu. Equally varied is the plant and animal life, with some rare and protected species.
Approaching the area from Bicaz, the wild view of Şugău Gorges welcome the visitors. In this genuine “outdoor museum”, …

Vânători-Neamţ Nature Park
 
Stretching on a surface of 30,818 hectares, of which 26,300-hectare forestry fund, the park encompasses remarkable cultural and historical values partly highlighted on our way. Three natural reserves, shrouded in legend and natural charm, welcome the visitors: “Codrii de aramă” (common oaks), “Pădurea de Argint” (white birches), and “Dumbrava” Oak Reserve, which contains secular oaks, between 150 and 200 years old, the only oaks grown in Romania at an altitude of 450 m.
“Dragoş Vodă” Bisons and Carpathian Fauna Reserve
Once an iconic component of the Carpathian wildlife, the bison …

The Silver Forest
 
On the route to Văratec, close to the holy site, in a charming natural environment, on the right side of the road, travellers set their eyes on the The Silver Forest – a protected forestry and landscape reserve since 1972. Covering some 2.5 hectares, the forest belongs to the Vânători-Neamţ Natural Park. Passing by, travellers cannot help remembering Eminescu’s well-known poem dedicated to the forest, mainly birches, some of which around one hundred years old.
The Brass Woods
Between the Agapia and Văratec convents, on Filiorul hill, at a height …

 
 
Lake Cuejdel 
 
 
 
Located in the central area of the county, it is the largest naturally dammed lake in the country – i.e. area – 12.2 hectares, length – 1 km, average width – 102 m, and average depth – 7.44 m. It was formed at the foot of Culmea Muncelu, following sizeable successive landslides that affected the left bank of Cuejdel Valley, between 1978 and 1991. The causes behind these landslides were mainly natural such as the high gradient of the slopes and their lithology, heavy rainfall and the 1990 earthquake.
In …

Goşman Forest Reserve, Brateş fauna Reserve, Waterfalls and Bolovăniş Gorges can be targets for hiking on weekends.
On the left side of Goşmanu creek, where meets with Tarcău creek, uphill from the village Ardeluţa, the side of a mountain starting from the height of about 700 meters up to 1300 meters, with inclinations of up to 45 % is  Goşman Forest Reserve . It is an old forest, a veritable thicket of over 170 hectares, predominantly spruce, beech and fir, with specimens that are passing of one – two hundred years, some with a …