Introduction to the world of Padiş: circular hike to the spectacular cliff of Boga Rock

Itinerary

• We start from the Nagy-Pádis Meadow (Şesul Padiş) plain on the red dot trail heading up towards the house standing at the edge of the meadow, and then follow it through the trees up to the mountain summit.
• Upon reaching the summit, turn left and take a round trip side path marked also by the red dot to the Boga Rock (Pietrele Boghii).
• We continue the hike on the red dot trail all the way to the Varasó Meadow (Vărăşoaia).
• At Varasó Meadow (Vărăşoaia) follow the wheel track, leaving behind the lost marking on the open terrain until we reach a wide, stony road on an unmarked path.
• Turning right onto the macadam road, we now follow the red stripe trail that, passing by the Varasó shelter (Cabana Vărăşoaia) and a few shepherd's lodgings, leads back to the starting point at Nagy-Pádis Meadow (Şesul Padiş).

Detailed description of the hike

The starting point of our hike is the Nagy-Pádis Meadow (Şesul Padiş) located in front of the Padiş resort, where you can park your car next to the stony road branching off at the hairpin turn. On the widely spread pasture meadow, we begin following the red dot marking westward, passing by the Padiş Nature Park Visitor Center visible from the parking lot, which lies to the right of the wide cart road. We also pass by water mirrors resembling puddles on the drainage-less basin's open sections, which are clay-blocked sinkholes and partially filled peat bogs.

Peat bogs on the plateau

The hiking trail turns right before a fence, into the forest. Beyond the fence extends a peat bog, as indicated by a sign. The peat bogs of Padiş add color to the drainage-less plateau basins; their peat is acidic due to the accumulated pine needles of the spruce forests – as we learn from the info board translated into several languages. Our route marked with red dot is also a nature trail, with several boards informing about the area's animal, insect, and plant life, as well as its other values and characteristics.

After the open part, we enter a pine forest where we follow a rocky path ascending for about 2 kilometers. Surprisingly, the pine forest soon alternates with beech forest, reversing the usual vegetation levels, which is typical of Padiş: beech forests that prefer a higher temperature grow around the peaks, while spruce forests have been pushed above their usual level by the cooler climate of the basins.

View from the magnificent Boga Rock

Upon reaching the summit, a red dot marked trail leads left towards the Boga Rock (Pietrele Boghii). Stumbling over the mossy, rugged devil's plow, the fantastic view already shows through the tree canopy, but standing on the cliff edge, we can enjoy a 180-degree, unobstructed panorama of the cirque below and the surrounding mountains.

We stand on the edge of a huge forested cliff above the Boga Cirque (Cetatea Boga), a valley system about 800-900 meters in diameter and shaped like a horseshoe, framed by rock walls. In the center, about 700 meters below us, lies Boga, the popular resort. Looking right from the cliff, we see the bare, alpine block of Horgas Peak at 1694 m; on the left are the torn, steep slopes of the Bál Meadow Peak. Below us, we glimpse the Czárán lookout, named after the area's explorer, Gyula Czárán. Beyond the mountains stretches the Belényes Basin, with the Béli Mountains behind it.

The name of the Boga cliff derives from the Slavic population that once lived here; "bog" means God, but the local Móc legends also mention the mountain. It was believed that the devil torments sinful people in the limestone wall caves, hence the supposed use of the phrase "Go to the Boga!" The surrounding meadows have also been nicknamed "Devil's Garden."

A thin, intermittently disappearing path leads from the lookout to the Boga barn (Pestera Şura Boghii) cave, but only experienced climbers with proper equipment can use it, as the descent is quite dangerous. The passage is also called Cauliflower Cave because of the stalactites resembling cauliflower inside.

From the viewpoint, we return to the junction beside the summit and follow the steeply descending red dot marked path along the mountainside. Reaching the rock edge again, we can once more enjoy the wonderful view of the Boga amphitheater cirque. Moreover, the cliff face of Boga Rock is visible from here: only from this angle can we truly sense the depth beneath the cliff. The terrain rich in gigantic rock formations offers a small taste of the monumental and uniquely spectacular karst features of Padiş.

The undulating Varasó Meadow

The red dot marked trail descends on a stony mountainside interwoven with pine roots to the Varasó Meadow (Vărăşoaia), surrounded by forested and bare ridges. The wide chain of meadows, convoluted by sinkholes, is patched with pines only here and there. The path through it winds in waves towards the plateau's center. The plateau's flat, marshy meadows were put to grazing centuries ago, eliminating the forest. The seemingly endless, picturesque landscape doesn’t last long; the marking vanishes around two sinkholes. We stay on the unmarked wheel track, which shortly leads to the macadam road towards the Varasó shelter (Cabana Vărăşoaia). Turning right here, we follow the red stripe marking.

Back to Nagy-Pádis Meadow

We pass along the macadam road, which is passable by car, passing the Varasó shelter, which started as a milk collection center. Varasó Meadow was a busy route for mountain shepherds for two reasons: the nearby small but permanent lake provided water for the animals, and this was the path used when moving their animals to or descending from the nearby ridges crowned with wide pastures.

We pass several shepherd’s lodgings, and after a few bends, head back to the starting point of the hike, Nagy-Pádis Meadow. On this section, you may frequently meet shepherds tending flocks accompanied by dogs. Larger, sometimes aggressively behaving shepherd dogs can be intimidating, but no worries, their owners keep them under control. If dogs approach, remain calm, avoid sudden movements, and move away from the flock, as the dogs are fundamentally protecting the sheep.

We return to Nagy-Pádis Meadow on a wide, winding path between pines. From there, Padiş resort is not far on foot, where food and accommodation are available. The tourist center, slowly developing into a village, was the site of Padiş’s first shelter from 1956, though it burned down the following year and was rebuilt only in 1963. After it too was destroyed by fire, a mining company built a residential block for its workers here, also offering accommodation to tourists. Padiş’s settlement is a new phenomenon: formerly, there were no settlements on the Padiş plateau; human habitation was limited exclusively to shepherd lodgings (estates). Those arriving for several days are advised to stay in the "village" or at the Csodavár shelter (Cabana Cetățile Ponorului), as no other catering facilities exist on the plateau.