I’ve passed through Sebeș countless times, on my way to my grandmas, my aunts and other longer trips. I had only stopped there once for about half an hour to visit the fortified church, but that was about it. So, when mum mentioned there was a ravine really close to Sebeș and suggested visiting it on our way to grandmas, of course I said yes! Since it was raining on our way there, we decided to take the small detour and visit it on our way back home.
… small detour … yeah right!
We had a pretty good idea of where it was located, but we started google maps for navigation to make sure we will quickly find the correct route to it 🙂 We turned it on on the highway when we got close to Sebeș.
The all-knowing-voice-in-the-phone soon had us get off the highway and into Sebeș. After a few turns, it got us off the paved roads and at a crossroad … in front there was the railroad, to the left a narrow road that seemed to be for horse carts at the most, not for cars. It also went in parallel and really close to the train tracks. To the right, a proper dirt road, but that was headed in the opposite direction from the ravine. The phone-voice was insisting we follow the narrow road.
Well … we thought … not today. And back we went into town and applied plan B: asking around. From the first people we met, we found out that the old way (I’m guessing the one google maps knew) was no longer in use since the highway was recently built. So we had to go left, then right, then go past a church, then again left … or right? Or what was it … Somehow we were heading the wrong way again …
We asked again and we were told to turn around again and head on the road towards Daia Romană, past the military facility (I’m still unsure which one it was) and then … we finally managed to spot a small road sign that said Râpa Roșie and had a small arrow pointing left. On the left there was a shady dirt road, but there was a car coming towards us! So we concluded that the road was doable by car!
We started on it and followed it for a few kms right next to the highway. A very bumpy and luckily not very muddy ride later we found another sign with Râpa Roșie, to the right this time. After heading in that direction, we could also spot the reserve in the distance.
A few more bumps ahead and a narrow bridge later, we found a nice grassy plateau with some other cars and picnicking people.
From there we continued on foot, through a small forest and into the ravine! There are some paths through the forest and around the ravine, we didn’t have time to follow all of them, but there’s supposed to be one that takes you on top of the ravine 🙂
It found it cool how you have to pass through the forest to be able to see the ravine properly, a bit like the passage to another world 🙂 And the ravine was indeed a great sight! I’ve seen my share of natural wonders, but I can’t stop being amazed when I see a new kind of it 🙂
And these reddish walls were surely something new 🙂
We spent a little time exploring it and managed to get closer to the ravine walls.
The red ravine (‘Râpa Roșie’ in Romanian) is one of the highlights of the Alba County, a protected geological reserve. Râpa Roșie measures approximately 10 hectares in size. Râpa Roșie stretches over a length of 800 metres. Its height measures between 50–125 metres (300–425 metres absolute altitude). A huge wall, almost vertical, gives the impression of a ruined ancestral monument. It’s appearance was given by centuries of erosion by rainwater. Study of the features has revealed geological formations of gravel, quartz sands, and sandstones. They all exhibit a reddish colour.
It’s a really cool place to explore in an afternoon 🙂
Also, the view from up there is awesome!
On the way back we decided to take another dirt road cause it seemed shorter.
It was indeed shorter, but bumpier. In the end it took us back to pavement and Sebeș 🙂
You can see the two possible routes to the ravine in the pic bellow.
Which is the most interesting site you discovered by making a small detour from your usual route?
Useful info:
- here’s the txt file with the complete route we took from Sebeș to the Ravine red-ravine-route
- the map you see above was made using http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/
Info source:
trip date: May 2016
Wow, so funny that it was so close but you had never been. The photos are really impressive. It looks like a great place to go hiking. There are so many of these hidden gems around, just have to make the time to see them!
And first discover the hidden gems of course! They can be pretty amazing! 😀
Absolutely beautiful photos! Thanks so much for an informative post, I’ve never heard about this in Romania before and is a nice nature escape. Can’t wait to visit some day!
Yep, you should visit! There are loooads of amazing places to discover 😉