The Râușor mountain resort in the Retezat Mountains is preparing for winter. Recently, the first chair lift system in the leisure area established four decades ago was installed, and the slopes are being extended and equipped with new facilities. The route to the top of Retezat is still accessible.
Retezat Peak rises to almost 2,500 meters. Photo: Daniel Guță THE TRUTH
An area of forest was cleared to make way for the new slopes, but the works, although carried out in the Retezat National Park, are permitted by law – being in the sustainable development area of the reserve, where tourist infrastructure works can take place.
In the vicinity of the resort and the Râușor Waterfall, other forestry works have led to the cutting of the forest, but, say the authorities of Râu de Mori, this is also permitted by law.
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The Raușor area below the Retezat Peak Photo Daniel Guță THE TRUTH (63) jpg
Tourists who go up from the Râu de Mori commune to the resort have a spectacular route for the last ten kilometers, starting at the foot of the Colț Fortress through the Râușorului gorge.
“The road remained as we had known it for years: full of potholes and extremely degraded. But the valley crossed is wonderful, and the waters of the stream make it even more beautiful“, says a tourist.
The county road Râu de Mori – Râușor, damaged in recent years even more by the works on the sewage network in the recreation area, will be rehabilitated with funds accessed by the Hunedoara County Council, through the “Anghel Saligny” national investment program, but the locals they have to wait until the works start.
The shortest route to Vârful Retezat
While waiting for the snow, tourists arriving at Râușor can enjoy the fresh mountain air and the excursions in the forests that surround the mountain resort.
Until the first snows, the path to Vârful Retezat (video) remains accessible throughout its entire distance. The climb from the resort to the emblematic ridge of Retezat will then become extremely risky on its last section, Şaua Lolaia (2,217 meters) and Vârful Retezat (2,842 meters).
The Râușor – Retezat trail is marked with a red tape and starts at the base of the ski slope (elevation 1,300 meters). It can be covered in about two hours, if the tourists enjoy a good physical condition.
It climbs steeply through the forest, for about an hour, mostly along the Ștevia stream, to the jnepeniș area.
From here the climb continues through a dominated landscape much brighter than that found in the spruce forest, where the centuries-old trees have climbed with their roots the huge boulders, rolled down from the mountain. A small detour brings travelers to the shores of Lake Ștevia, and then the road continues through the area of gravel and stone slabs below the ridges of the Retezat.
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The Raușor area under Retezat Peak Photo Daniel Guță THE TRUTH (44) JPG
The cut (video – The truth), the 2,485-meter peak, which gives the massif its name, is distinguished by the shape of an elongated, truncated pyramid, bleached by the sun and snow for most of the year. His appearance gave rise to several legends.
One of them says that the “giants” who used to rule these places were defeated by a strong man. He cut off the head of an ogre and turned it into a mountain of stone, which is called Retezat. Other authors have compared it to an energy pyramid and attributed esoteric meanings to it.
Retezat Peak remains accessible to its guests, and those who do not dare to explore it closely can admire it from impressive distances: from Ţara Haţegului, Hunedoara and Deva.
The Râușor resort in Retezat, four decades old
Located 30 kilometers from Hațeg, in the sustainable development area of the Retezat National Park, the Râușor mountain resort in Hunedoara has been, since its establishment in the 80s, a favorite place for Hunedo residents to spend their holidays and free days during the winter.
The first cabins were built here together with the works on the Râul Mare – Retezat hydro-energy development, started in the mid-70s. After 1990, more and more cabins and guesthouses were built in the new recreation area of Retezat, and Râușorul became a mountain resort.
Apart from winter sports, tourists arriving in the Râușor mountain resort can hike on the several mountain trails in Retezat that start from the recreation area. The most accessible ones cross the forest in the vicinity of the slopes.
The Râușor waterfall is about a 20-30 minute walk from the resort, and at the entrance to the Râușor valley, tourists find the medieval Colț church and the medieval Colț Citadel (video), built in the 14th century.
