Gorj County’s mountain area provides for mountain lovers everything they could wish for: over 30 hiking trails – including Transalpina, the road with the highest altitude in the country – , 3 homologated mountaineering and climbing zones, caves, the most numerous potholes in the country – the deepest one has 150 m –, canyons, waterfalls, cycling and mountain biking circuits, rafting and body rafting circuits, off-road, enduro, ATV, paragliding and hang-gliding polygons, scuba diving and cave diving sites, ski slopes, ice waterfalls, ski touring circuits. Gorj Mountains – the southern slopes of Parâng and Vâlcan and part of Căpățânii, Godeanu and Mehedinți – have an exceptional tourism potential, certainly one of the most complete and diverse in the country. Due to massive investments made here in the last few years, Rânca will soon manage to obtain the status of the ski resort with the highest altitude in the country.
OGThe Olteţ Gorges stretch for a distance of 1.5 kilometres, a very picturesque landscape with vertical walls, 4.5 m away from each other at the bottom of the valley and 10-20 m at the upper part.
The entrance to The Polovragi Cave is on The Olteţ Gorges along which there is a forest road that in some parts was dug in the rock where a sort of canopy was formed increasing the picturesque of the valley. The Polovragi Cave resulted of the work of an old underground course of The Olteţ River that dissolved the calcium carbonate on its way. According to the research of the Speleological Circle “Living Fire” in Bucharest, in 1974, the total length of the known galleries reached 9000 m. There are only 3200 m described and mapped namely the galleries previously known. The cave is carved by water dissolving calcium carbonate in the left side of The Olteţ Gorges and the entrance of the cave is located at about 200 m from the entrance to the gorges, at a height of 20 m above the thalweg of The Olteţ River. The cave is easy to navigate and is electrified.
In the past, the cave was shelter and refuge for outlaws. It seems that in 1821, Tudor Vladimirescu’s Pandours stored in the cave weapons brought from Sibiu. The legend says that the cave housed the God of the Getae (or Dacians) Zalmoxis and ruins of a Dacian fortress were discovered nearby.
GG The Galben Gorges have removed slopes with leaking detritus showing an intense process of rocks degradation.
WC The Women’s Cave is located on the right side of The Galben Gorges, with an altitude of 751 m, in The Parâng Mountains, with 3566 m in length, arranged on four levels.
The Women’s Cave is the first electrified cave in Romania. The name was given by locals due to the fact that during the fights men were going to confront the invaders and women and children were sheltering in the cave. In the cave there are formations of stalagmites and stalactites receiving names depending on the form they got: Pipe Organ, The Small Dome, Altar Hall, Altar Veil, The Pulpit, The Big Chandelier, The Odalisque, Santa Claus, The Bustard, The injured hawk and due to leakage of iron oxides which gave a rusty colour to the place – the place is called The Bloody Rock. In the main gallery there is an area where the cave floor has numerous pools, sometimes, especially in spring, full of water, named The Large Basins.
Near the Turks’ Room there is the Bears’ Gallery where there were found numerous fossils, skeletal remains and more than 100 skulls of the cave bear (Ursus Spelaeus), extinct species and other skeletal remains of hyenas, lions, foxes, wild goats, wolves, wild boars that prove climate change throughout the geological eras.
The cave is located in the municipality of Baia de Fier (560 m altitude). The toponym of the settlement came from the iron extracted from here as historical documents testify.
PMThe Parâng Mountains reach the maximum height of 2519 m with The Parângu Mare Peak, presenting highly attractive landscapes and the most picturesque landforms. In Gorj, there are several marked hiking trails (both in The Parâng Mountains and in The Vâlcan Mountains).
TTransalpina (
DN 67C) connects Oltenia and Transylvania from Bengeşti, Novaci over the Parâng Mountains to Sebeş, in Alba County.
Centuries ago this route was a steep footpath used by shepherds from Mărginimea Sibiului to pass the flocks of sheep to Oltenia and also an exile for many Transylvanian people socially, nationally and religiously persecuted by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who were crossing the mountains in Ţara Românească settling in Gorj, Vâlcea, Argeş, known as pastors, shepherds and sheep breeders. This explains the identity of clothes, customs and traditions of the population on both sides of The Meridionali Carpathians.
Romans worked at this road in 104 AD for moving their armies to Sarmisegetuza. During the World War I, German army paved the road for military reasons. In 1933, it was rebuilt by King Carol II who was impressed by the beauty and wildness of the landscape that the road was passing through. The inauguration of the road took place in 1935, in Poiana Sibiului. Transalpina is the highest road in Romania, having the highest point in Urdele Pass (at 2,145 m), being recently paved with asphalt.
JDThe Jiu Defile, with a length of 30 km, is one of the most spectacular and wild defile of the Carpathians.
The road and the rail passing over the deep valley, crossing viaducts and tunnels constitute a tourist attraction. The National Park “The Jiu Defile” occupies an area of 11,127 hectares and is located on The Jiu Valley between The Vâlcan Mountains and The Parâng Mountains.
SGThe spectacular Sohodol Gorges are located in a complex natural reserve, (a length of 10 km), presenting: caves, springs, limestone cliff vegetation with rare flora and fauna etc. Erosion shaped in the stone “The Nostrils” and “The Ring” on The Sohodol Gorges.
TTismana area (karst area, nature reserve).
The name Tismana comes from the yew, a species of red hardwood conifer which grew in the area centuries ago. An edible chestnut reserve which represents a sub-Mediterranean vegetation island lies on an area of 60 ha at an altitude of 350-600 m. There are also several caves in Tismana due to the region petrography and the steep lines. A very interesting cave is The Tismana Cave known as “The Treasure Cave” near Tismana Monastery, a cave from where a stream of water gushes out forming a fall of 50 m height.
CDIn the northeast part of the county we find
The Cerna-Domogled National Park and The Cerna springs.
Within the park there are included on a length of 40 km: Piatra Cloşanilor from the commune of Padeş, a complex reserve with limestone relief, a rocky reserve with specific Mediterranean elements (1,730 ha), The Cloşani Cave and The Corcoaia Gorges.
