Cheile Nerei-Beușnița, Nature reserve in Caraș-Severin County, Romania.
Cheile Nerei-Beușnița is a nature reserve in southwestern Romania featuring deep limestone gorges, cascading waterfalls, and extensive ancient beech forests. The area is carved out by a river system that has shaped dramatic rocky passages and created a varied landscape of water features and woodlands.
The reserve gained UNESCO World Heritage recognition as part of a network protecting ancient beech forests across the region. This designation highlights the global importance of these forests, which are among Europe's oldest and most valuable woodland ecosystems.
The Nera River has carved through this landscape for millennia, shaping how local communities connect with their surroundings through traditions tied to seasonal changes. The people living here maintain strong bonds with the river and mountain rhythms that structure their daily lives.
Several marked hiking trails wind through the reserve, ranging from short walks to full-day explorations of the gorges. Sturdy footwear is essential, and visitors should be prepared for rocky terrain and steep sections along many of the paths.
The Nera River has carved one of Europe's longest connected gorge systems here, stretching well over 20 kilometers through unbroken limestone. This continuous flow through solid rock demonstrates how water gradually reshapes entire landscapes over geological timescales.
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