Bucegi Natural Park, Protected natural park in Carpathian Mountains, Romania.
Bucegi Natural Park is a protected area in the Southern Carpathians in Romania, covering roughly 32,663 hectares across Prahova, Brașov and Dâmbovița counties. The landscape shifts between limestone walls, deep gorges, caves and alpine meadows, ranging from 800 meters to the summit at 2,505 meters.
The Romanian government established a protected zone in 1974 to limit excessive use of timber and grazing land. In 2000, the area officially received natural park status with expanded measures to protect wildlife and plant life.
The name Bucegi comes from the Dacian language and likely referred to mountain deities worshiped by the pre-Roman inhabitants of this region. In the lower zones during summer, you can still see wooden huts and fenced pastures where shepherds tend sheep and goats as they have for centuries.
You can reach the area through several entry points near Sinaia, Busteni and Moroeni, which lead to marked hiking trails between 500 meters and 16 kilometers long. A cable car from Busteni takes visitors directly to the high plateau, where shorter loop trails begin.
Natural erosion created two striking rock formations on the central plateau: the Sphinx, which resembles a human face, and Babele, a group of mushroom-shaped stones with rounded caps. Both stand above 2,200 meters and draw hikers searching for unusual geological shapes.
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