Retezat National Park, located in Hunedoara county, Romania, was founded in 1935 and has an area of 380 km². Containing more than 60 peaks over 7,500 feet and over 100 crystal clear deep glacier lakes, the Retezat Mountains are some of the most beautiful in the Carpathians and include Romania's first national park. The area shelters one of Europe's last remaining, unaffected natural primary forest and the largest single area of pristine mixed forest. Wolves, brown bear, wild boar, lynx, wildcat, chamois, roe and red deer, as well as small carnivore species such as badger and otter populate the area. Retezat National Park, located in Hunedoara county, Romania, was founded in 1935 and has an area of 380 km². Containing more than 60 peaks over 7,500 feet (2,300 m) and over 100 crystal clear deep glacier lakes, the Retezat Mountains are some of the most beautiful in the Carpathians and include Romania's first national park. Retezat National Park is a natural reserve area covering more than 275 sq mi (710 km2)., including 4,500 acres (18,000,000 m2) in a strictly protected scientific reserve area called "Gemenele". The area shelters one of Europe's last remaining, unaffected natural primary forest and the largest single area of pristine mixed forest. Wolves, brown bear, wild boar, Eurasian Lynx, European Wildcat, chamois, Roe Deer and red deer, as well as small carnivore species such as Eurasian Badger and Eurasian otter populate the area. In 1979 the Man and Biosphere Program of UNESCO included the park in the international network of biosphere reserve.The Retezat Mountains can be found in this Park, with the highest peak being Peleaga Peak at 2509 meters. The name derives from the name of the mountains and retezat means in Romanian "cut off", alluding to their shape. It also includes about 80 glacier lakes. Here can be found 1190 of the 3450 plant species of Romania, of which 130 have the "endangered" or "vulnerable" status. A part of it is a 'protected area', which contains an intact primeval forest.
Hiking in Retezat National Park you may well lose your breath, not from the climb, but the breath-taking views of nature at her wildest. Peaks of differing heights, many topping the 2,000m mark, make the park a true wilderness challenge. Visitors willing to tackle the "massive challenge" will discover their efforts are well rewarded. The lonely mountains rise and fall, and appear to change in shape as the sun casts an array of mountain shadows about the land from dawn to dusk. At the western end of the Carpathian Mountains, Retezat provides a spectacular contrast to the Danube Plains. Alpine peaks, glacial lakes, forests and alpine meadows provide rich opportunities to discover nature. Tread quietly and you may see Chamois or Golden Eagle.
As the first Romanian national park, Retezat National Park has been well preserved, so that it hosts a great wilderness containing many rare plants and animals.
In the northern part of Retezat you can see a typical glacier landscape with glacial valleys and cirques, lakes and peaks. In the southern part, composed of limestone, there are caves, gorges and sinkholes. Retezat’s plateaus are covered with alpine meadows and flowers. In early summer, alpine slopes are clothed in incredible colour during the blooming of rhododendron.There is an extensive network of trails in the pristine beech, spruce, and fir forests that are among the most extensive mountain forests in Europe.
You can drink crystal clear water directly from mountain streams and walk up to see the sun rise above majestic peaks such as Peleaga - at 2,509m, the highest peak in the park.
Retazat is the oldest Romanian national park, it was established in 1935?
Retezat has the highest number of mountain peaks over 2,000m in Romania (over 20)?
the mountain range gurgles with streams and has more than 80 glacial lakes?
the largest glacial lake in Romania is Bucura
in Retezat (8.8 ha)?
the highest peak in the Retezat Mountain is
Peleaga (2,509 m. high)?
the deepest glacial lake in Romania is Zanoaga
in Retezat (29-metre deep)?
traditional grazing activities are still practiced by local people?
