Tour in the wondrous world decorated with pine trees and rocks

Itinerary

• From the Glavoj meadow (Poiana Glăvoi) we follow the blue dot marking through viewpoint balconies into the depths of Csodavár (Cetățile Ponorului), then climb out of it to the forestry road.
• On the forestry road, we follow the red stripe marking to the Csodavár shelter (Cabana Cetățile Ponorului).
• From the shelter we start back on the red stripe marking to a nearby fork branching off to the right.
• On the wide road turning off to the right, we make a detour to the Hamlet Cave (Peştera Căput) following the red triangle marking. (There are no markings in the last meters on the dry creek bed.)
• From the Hamlet Cave (Peştera Căput) we return to the forestry road on the red triangle marking.
• We follow the red stripe marking on the forestry road turning right to the Csodavár fork.
• At the blue dot marking (right) we reach the Ponor meadow (Poiana Ponor), crossing it straight and following the marking to a ford.
• At the ford we turn left, and crossing the bridge on the blue dot markings we make a detour to the Ponor spring (Izbucul Ponor).
• From the Ponor spring (Izbucul Ponor) we return to the Ponor meadow (Poiana Ponor), which we leave shortly after.
• At the beginning of the Ponor meadow (Poiana Ponor) we turn right onto an unmarked, wide wheel track that leads back to the Glavoj meadow (Poiana Glăvoi) in 10-15 minutes.

Detailed tour description

Our hike starts from the well-known Glavoj meadow (Poiana Glăvoi). This meadow is centrally located in the Pădis Plateau, from where many famous sights are reachable with a short walk. Accordingly, services, guesthouses, and buffets are increasingly developed here. In summer, the beautiful meadow fills with campers, which it visibly struggles to handle.

From Glavoj meadow we begin southwest along a stream winding into the green field on the blue dot marking, on a wide forestry road. Soon we veer right and follow the marking along a path through lush primeval forest heading south. The path mostly runs sideways along a steep slope, paved with stones and rocks until emerging at the edge of Csodavár (Cetățile Ponorului). The dizzying view from the viewpoint captivates for long minutes, but this is only the start. We stand above the 2nd dolina of the triple formation made up of 3 depressions: its bottom is exactly 100 meters below, completely surrounded by vertical cliffs. Only one underground passage leads out of the hollow — its other entrance will be seen later.

Wonder from above

Our path touches numerous breathtaking balconies in Csodavár, the last two offering views into the 3rd dolina, much wider and more spectacular than the previous, and 20 meters deeper. If we spot hikers at the bottom, we can grasp the scale. Formerly, wooden terraces offered close eye contact with the depth, today we admire it from the edge — carefully, as there are no railings!

After admiring from above, let's descend into Csodavár! We continue following the blue dot along the rim of the hollow, which after a break leads jointly with the yellow dot. This section ends in a sharp left turn where we "plunge" into the depths of Csodavár marked by blue dot along an extremely steep path covered with rock debris (formerly called the Tulogdi gádor). Occasionally, only chains fixed alongside can safely assist the descent. The path is very scenic but requires caution on its steep, rocky, debris-covered surface! At the foot of the rugged cliff stands a large cave opening called the "Gate to the Underworld", and above it the recently visited viewpoints can be recognized. This is the deepest surface point of the Pădis Plateau at 950 meters above sea level.

Wonder from below

Although a small sign at the entrance warns that the cave section is not part of the hiking route, many enter the mountain's depths. This is dangerous due to the strong water current. The surface path is also difficult, requiring climbing over a very steep rock threshold aided by mildly inclined metal steps and wire ropes. Slowly, the 73-meter-high, 30-meter-wide monumental Great Portal of Csodavár unfolds, the highest cave opening in the Carpathians. The immense cave gate almost leans over us: it yawns deep down and towers above, its massive rock formations hinting at great depths.

Csodavár is the largest and best-known cave system in Pădis, special for its huge limestone walls and natural stone gates. Underground, converging streams carved an extensive cave system in the karst body, which collapsed in three places, creating a triple hollow rimmed by nearly vertical cliffs 100-120 meters high. Csodavár's main stream is the Vár stream, which here joins water from the Lost World's sinkholes and the Ponor meadow, re-emerging at the Galbina water source after a 2 km underground flow (now at 815 meters elevation), creating perhaps the area's wildest spectacle, the Galbina Gorge. The stream then calms and flows first into the Köves Körös, then continues toward the Tisza in the Fekete Körös.

From the Csodavár hollow, a steep path initially secured with climbing cables leads out, continuing to follow the blue dot markings. After overcoming 70 meters of elevation difference, we reach a fork in a mossy, dense pine forest, where first a yellow dot trail joins us, then 100 meters later red stripe and red cross join at a rest area beside the forestry road.

Comfort at the guesthouse

Turning right on the forestry road, we follow the red stripe marking to the nearby Csodavár shelter (Cabana Cetățile Ponorului). This forest building originally housed professionals working on the plateau — foresters, mining engineers, researchers, and cavers — but after renovation became a 20-room guesthouse. Its constantly operating restaurant makes it a true oasis in Pădis. The location is also ideal: most of the plateau's attractions are easily reachable from here.

From the shelter, we walk a short way back on the forestry road to the red triangle tourist marking fork, turning right. Shortly after, from the wide macadam road — after two bends, near a ruined building — we turn left and only need to walk a few meters following the Bear stream (Valea Ursului) to reach a spectacular karst phenomenon, the Hamlet Cave (Peştera Căput).

The ravenous Hamlet Cave

Approaching the cave entrance, we can wade through a wide stream bed, but in wetter periods water gushes through the huge oval opening in the limestone mass. Sometimes it trickles, other times rushes violently, indicated by the smoothly worn bed bottom, signaling occasional massive water floods that the cave swallows with roaring. The stream falls with a high waterfall into the passage, visible from above or the side if water levels allow. However, do not go further inside: the 1873-meter-long cave halls and chimneys are dangerous, and sudden floods can easily trap those inside.

After the short detour and enjoying the rock path, we return on the red triangle to the forestry road leading to the shelter, turning right and walking back to the Csodavár fork on the previously traveled path. At the crossing of tourist paths — where a bench and information board stand — we turn right on the blue dot (and yellow dot) markings.

The most beautiful drainage of Transylvania

The path cuts through a magical mossy pine forest, stepping over roots to reach the ridge forming the edge of the basin-like Ponor meadow. From here, we quickly descend to the edge of the Ponor meadow (Poiana Ponor), where turning right we immediately see the disappearing stream. The winding, vanishing bed ends in a "bay" with rocky walls, and although sediment covers it, two sinkholes actually carry the water underground. The water flow is rather erratic: after larger rainfall and mostly after snowmelt, it swells so much that the sinkholes cannot handle the flow, forming a lake on the meadow. Then new sinkholes become active, and this segmented "drainage" empties the lake within weeks, the water then flowing underground toward Csodavár. Rarely, the lake swells so much that its water spills over the low western edge of the basin. (The word 'ponor' means sinkhole in Romanian.)

The "Ponor circus" (here 'circus' refers to the round shape) radiates a true bucolic idyll: herds grazing on the flat bottom and wavy edges of the basin are surrounded by dense pine forest shaped like a frame, only the northern ridge separated by a valley and the small cliffs on the southern rim — the 'Backdrops' — are harsher elements of the view. One holds an interesting cave: allegedly sitting in a small alcove, one can distinctly hear distant sounds coming from the meadow's center, almost speech. It is worth climbing to the edge of the meadow to fully view one of Pădis's most beautiful sites and the green basin cut through by a creek branching like a braid.

The hiking trail crosses the meadow and continues along a valley joining from the north side beside the stream. It is worth taking a short detour in this direction on the blue dot marking to visit the spring of the creek. Higher mountains already border the meadow's tip here. At a ford, we turn left. Do not cross the creek here, as a wooden bridge a few meters downstream will help, where we turn left again on the blue dot marking. The short branch leads through wild valley scenery along a rocky, fast-flowing creek to the Ponor spring (also called Ponor water source or Izbucul Ponor). The water emerging from a cavernous hollow at the cliff base sinks below the spreading meadows under Pădis settlement. (The water comes from the non-karstic Magura ridge.) The spring cave was only explored a few tens of meters due to a siphon. (In Czárán's time, a sawmill stood here.)

From the spring, descend back to the Ponor meadow, which we immediately leave on the right on an unmarked path. Along the wheel track through the trees, an information board calls attention to a rocky point on the left — offering a beautiful view over the entire meadow. Continue uphill on the path which does not turn into the forest but follows the pasture corridor toward Glavoj meadow. The path is unmistakable, used by herders and foresters with vehicles, and in about 10-15 minutes, we arrive back at the starting point, Glavoj meadow.