Easy Hike in Hasmas Mountains: Red Lake, Bicaz Gorge, Praid Mine

A day for relaxation… this is going to be a short article with a few ideas of what you can do in the Hasmas area. This is a really nice spot but as many others in Romania it has still has not reached its maturity from a touristic point of view. So come and check out Red Lake, Bicaz Gorge and Praid Mine with us.

Distance

4.27 Km

Total Time

1 h 20 min

Active Time

0 h 45 min

Vertical Relief

+124 / -124 m

Min/Max Altitude

985 – 1043 m

Average Speed

2.4 km/h

Hike to The Red Lake (Lacul Rosu) and Bicaz Gorge

The area composed of Hasmas Mountains – Red Lake – Bicaz Gorge is really interesting and it attracts a fair number of tourists of all types. It is the kind of area that you can easily reach by car, a fact that has its upsides and downsides in equal proportions.

Small tip: if you are looking to stretch your legs in an easy and short hike you can do the Red Lake circuit that goes around the lake for 4 kilometers on almost flat ground.

As a must you do not want to miss the imposing and picturesque Bicaz Gorge. We only visited them from our car as the weather was pretty bad and the road was slippery, which in combination with some reckless drivers can end up pretty bad. Luckily everything was alright in the end.

I think the area can be great for some future bike runs but I’ll need to look into it to discover the full potential 🙂

Praid Salt Mine

On our way back home we managed to visit the Praid Salt Mine. For 25 lei per person we descended 120 meter underground where we touched the million years old salt deposits and braved the healthy salty air. The mine is pretty big in size and in order to do the complete tour and read all about mining and the mines history you should reserve about two hours. The mine has a restaurant, a coffee shop, a small chapel and a playground for children.

Arrivals and departures from the mine are done by bus at fixed intervals and for more details about the schedule and general info check their official site: http://www.salinapraid.ro/

All in all the whole area is still not fully exploited from a touristic point of view but I hope this will change in the near future and I hope the area will have a great growth.

GPS track around Red Lake

How to get here?

Where to sleep?

After our hike in Ceahlau National Park we left for Gheorgheni via Red Lake (Lacul Rosu) where we were supposed to meet a great group of people from Sibiu-Fagaras.

This time the accommodation facilities where we were supposed to spend the next two nights were more than excellent.

Sapte Flori guesthouse is composed of 7 chalets with apartments, individual rooms and shared kitchens.

The area around each chalet offers intimacy from your neighbors and the host is very hospitable so I really recommend the place.

Good to know

Besides all of the above our relaxation day included a great lunch at Panorama Restaurant (warm recommendations) located in Red Lake and as a bonus we managed to get together with another mountain lover we met on last year’s national day outing we organized in Fagaras Mountains.

Another great place to grab lunch is Casa Telegy from Praid city. The Hungarians in this regions are really hospitable and welcoming and the food / service is excellent especially in this restaurant built with traditional influences.

Hope you found the information helpful and accurate, but remember, if you have any questions drop them in a comment below!

Other great adventures