Romania: Beautiful winter trail in Baiului Mountains
Ascend from Azuga to Urechea Peak (1705 m) on this 3 hours long moderate hiking trail and you will be rewarded with beautiful views over the Bucegi Mountains.
During clear winter days, it seems you are in a fairy tale.
You will start near Azuga at around 900 m altitude and after a 6 km hike you will reach Urechea Peak at 1705 m. If you think it’s too much for you, you can stop at around 1500 m, at the cable car terminal. The views are great from there as well.
During winter, if the path is beaten, it’s an easy hike, otherwise it can be a bit more strenuous, depending on how much snow covers the trail.
There are no sources of water on the trail.
Quick info about Azuga to Urechea Peak trail
Starting point: Azuga (900 m), on 35 DN1
Destination: Urechea Peak (1705)
Seasonality: all year in good weather
Duration: ~3 h one way
Length: 6 km one way
Markings: blue triangle
Difficulty: easy to moderate
Equipment during winter: buff, gloves, sunglasses, winter boots, midlayer, shell layer
Closest accommodation unit to the start of the trail: guest houses and hotels in Azuga
Closest town to the start of the trail: Azuga
Distance from Bucharest: 140 km (2-3h) by car
Parking: free parking near Gara Azuga train station
Azuga to Urechea Peak trail description
Trail: DN1 (Calea Victorie 21) – Sorica cable car terminal – Urechea Peak
Total duration: 3h (one way)
Trail profile
Trail markings
Blue triangle (3 h):
Azuga (900 m) – Sorica cable car terminal (1525 m) – Urechea Peak (1705 m)
Directions and checkpoints
Start of the trail
You can park your car for free near Azuga train station. The start of the trail is 1.4 km away from Azuga train station, on DN1 (Srada Victoriei 21), near the first bus station in Azuga coming from Busteni. On the right of the bus station, you will notice a signpost. Start ascending on blue triangle.
At first, you will walk through the forest. It is a pleasant ascend between the tall trees covered in hoar frost.
Exiting the forest
In about 2 hours, you will exit the forest and you will have some beautiful panoramic views over Bucegi Mountains.
Sorica cable car
From here, continue your ascent towards Azuga cable car station. After a 15 minutes ascend, you will find yourself walking along Sorica ski slope for about 100 meters. It is full of skiers during winter weekends so make sure you walk on the right side of the path to avoid any potential accidents.
Urechea Peak (1715 m)
From Azuga cable car station, you should reach Urechea Peak (1705 m) in about 45 minutes. From here you will have panoramic views over Bucegi Mountains, Baiului ridge and Zamora ridge.
Going back from Urechea Peak to Azuga
The easiest way back to Azuga is to descend the same way you climbed.
Continuing from Urechea Peak
The Baiului ridge is mild, without much elevation gain. If you still have energy, you can continue on red cross and reach Cazacu Peak (1753 m) in about 50 minutes.
From Cazacu Peak you can descend to Busteni train station (21km in total) or, even more, you can continue hiking on the ridge and descend to Sinaia (26 km in total). If the trail is covered in snow, it’s best to have winter gear like crampons and ice axe.
During summer
During summer the path is visible and does not pose any difficulties, except for the 850 meters elevation gain. All you need is good hiking shoes.
Be aware that during summer there are several sheepfolds on Baiului mountains. The shepherd’s dogs may bark at you in order to alert the shepherd, but they won’t bite if you stay calm. Yell for the shepherd if he doesn’t call his dogs back in time.