Polovragi - Ciungetu
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 30.37 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,740 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 3,747 ft
- Max elevation
- 5,308 ft
- TrailRank
- 32
- Min elevation
- 1,939 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 3 hours 10 minutes
- Time
- 19 hours 51 minutes
- Coordinates
- 6442
- Uploaded
- October 4, 2023
- Recorded
- October 2023
near Polovragi, Județul Gorj (România)
Viewed 28 times, downloaded 1 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
|
Easy for an off-roader, somewhat dangerous (and surely not recommended) for long and heavy vehicles.
It leaves from next to the Polovragi monastery. The first 18 km are on an easy track, starting at the Oltetului Gorge, with its imposing rock walls (there is a cave that can be visited for a few lei if you want), which is covered in its entirety, and then following the course of the river, through a very open and beautiful landscape, and a mainly flat and well-maintained track (there are sections that you could almost put in 4th).
From there begins the ascent along the south face of the Micaia Massif, which is 5 km of more or less broken track, on which I put the 4x4 as a precaution, but which could be climbed without problems in 4x2, except for the last one. kilometer, which is quite rocky and requires good ground clearance (and reduction in the case of a Sprinter, so as not to punish the vehicle too much).
I started the route late so I chose to spend the night above, on the "plain" of Olteţului, at 1600 m altitude.
From here, they begin the descent along the north face of the Micaia Massif (they descend about 450 m in 5 km), along a fairly broken track. For a "normal" 4x4 it does not present any difficulty, but for long and heavy vehicles (large volume vans, pickup trucks, etc.), with a higher center of gravity, there are some somewhat tricky sections, either because of the lateral inclination, road erosion due to rain, narrowness, etc. Most 4x4 van owners I know probably wouldn't feel very comfortable on this track.
Once you reach the bottom, to the river valley, the route is flat and easy until the end. The landscape is beautiful, with the river, the lush vegetation and the multitude of small waterfalls along the road, which seems like once upon a time it was paved, but as it fell into disuse, it has eroded a lot, making that the progress is slow (and towards the end, a bit heavy).
But it is a beautiful route that is worth doing with a 4x4. For 4x4 campers, there is a certain risk in the descent already mentioned, since if in any section one encounters an important obstacle, there are not many possibilities of turning around, and reversing uphill and through some of the hairpins that there are, It is not very viable. So... you are warned 😜
It leaves from next to the Polovragi monastery. The first 18 km are on an easy track, starting at the Oltetului Gorge, with its imposing rock walls (there is a cave that can be visited for a few lei if you want), which is covered in its entirety, and then following the course of the river, through a very open and beautiful landscape, and a mainly flat and well-maintained track (there are sections that you could almost put in 4th).
From there begins the ascent along the south face of the Micaia Massif, which is 5 km of more or less broken track, on which I put the 4x4 as a precaution, but which could be climbed without problems in 4x2, except for the last one. kilometer, which is quite rocky and requires good ground clearance (and reduction in the case of a Sprinter, so as not to punish the vehicle too much).
I started the route late so I chose to spend the night above, on the "plain" of Olteţului, at 1600 m altitude.
From here, they begin the descent along the north face of the Micaia Massif (they descend about 450 m in 5 km), along a fairly broken track. For a "normal" 4x4 it does not present any difficulty, but for long and heavy vehicles (large volume vans, pickup trucks, etc.), with a higher center of gravity, there are some somewhat tricky sections, either because of the lateral inclination, road erosion due to rain, narrowness, etc. Most 4x4 van owners I know probably wouldn't feel very comfortable on this track.
Once you reach the bottom, to the river valley, the route is flat and easy until the end. The landscape is beautiful, with the river, the lush vegetation and the multitude of small waterfalls along the road, which seems like once upon a time it was paved, but as it fell into disuse, it has eroded a lot, making that the progress is slow (and towards the end, a bit heavy).
But it is a beautiful route that is worth doing with a 4x4. For 4x4 campers, there is a certain risk in the descent already mentioned, since if in any section one encounters an important obstacle, there are not many possibilities of turning around, and reversing uphill and through some of the hairpins that there are, It is not very viable. So... you are warned 😜
You can add a comment or review this trail
Comments