Orzea Gorges

Located north of Scropoasa Lake in Bucegi Mountains, Cheile Orzei (Orzea Gorges) are among the tightest, beautiful and spectacular gorges in the Ialomița Valley and even in Romania. The gorges are over 1.5 km long, dug into the limestone walls. In 1970, to protect this valuable space, was created the Orzea Gorges Nature Reserve Complex.

Mixed nature reserves Orzea-Zănoaga and Zănoaga-Lucăcilă includes Zănoaga karst systeme: Big Zănoaga Gorges, Little Zănoaga Gorges, Orzea Gorges - all nature monuments, forests of spruce (Pices abies), a thermophilic vegetation consisting of rare Southern-European, Southern-Mediterranean and Balkanic floristic elements: mountain rye (Secale montanum), iris (Iris dacica), Sorbus cretica, Carduus candicanus, Athamantha hungarica, Phleum montanum, Lonicera caerulea, Astragalus depressus, and many others.

Orzea Gorges are guarded by stone walls of 100-300 m high, between Lespezi Mountain and Orza–Brânduşi Mountain. Here, Ialomița Valley is very narrow and provides an exciting spectacle of the falls on the stones. At the end of the gorges are the Scropoasa lake and dam.

Images from here, here, and here.