Runcu Gorges

The Runcu Gorges (Romanian: Cheile Runcului) are a natural reserve (20 ha) located in the extreme north of Alba County, at the Cluj County border, situated on the Ocoliş commune territory between Lunca Largă village at north and Runcu village at south. It is a complex reserve, consisting of a very beautiful landscape, a set of slopes, ridges and towers. Access roads: on 75 National Road Turda-Câmpeni up to the confluence of the Ocoliş Stream with the Arieş River, then by the village road towards north, on the Ocoliş Valley, about 5 km until the entry into the Runcului Gorges.

Runcu Gorges are located in the east of the Muntele Mare Massif, on the Ocoliş Stream banks, left tributary of the Arieş River. Geographic coordinates: 46°31'N, 23°22'E. Altitude: 595 m (at the entrance of Ocoliş Stream in the gorges) and 500 m (at the the output of the stream). Runcu Gorge is the most spectacular morphological breakthrough in the Vulturese limestone, not so much by their length, which exceeds 1 km, but by the vertical scale of development, the relief on the perimeter keys sometimes exceeding 450 m. The gorges territory is mostly state owned, in general as unproductive land and forest land, but also in private agricultural use (meadows, pastures, meadows and, in lesser extent, cultivated land). The Runcului Gorges can be crossed by car.

Images from here, © Pompei Cocean