The Bucegi Natural Park () is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

( natural park category V

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

) situated in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, in the administrative territory of counties

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

, Dâmbovița and Prahova.

Location

The Natural Park is located in the south-central part of

, in the

Bucegi Mountains The Bucegi Mountains ( ) are located in central Romania, south of the city of Brașov. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains. At , ''Omu Peak, Omu'' is its highest point. To the east, the Bucegi Mountains ha ...

of the

Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ; ) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and ...

Description

The Bucegi Natural Park with an area of 32.663 ha was declared a

by ''Law Number 5 of March 6, 2000'' (published in

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official government gazette, gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgation, promulgated bills, President of Romania, presidential decrees, Government of Romania, governmental ordinances and other m ...

Number 152 of April 12, 2000) and represents a mountainous area (

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

pit cave A pit cave, shaft cave or vertical cave—or often simply called a pit (in the US) and pothole or pot (in the UK); jama in Slavic languages scientific and colloquial vocabulary (borrowed since early research in the Western Balkan Dinaric Alpin ...

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

s and

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s), that shelters a variety of flora and fauna. The park is famous for its

Babele Babele (meaning ''The old women'') is the name for an area on the Bucegi Mountains plateau in Romania, within the Southern Carpathians. Babele is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The name comes from some mushroom sha ...

and

Sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

features.

Habitats

Beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forests, bushes, alpine limestone grasslands, alpine rivers and

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

vegetation, mountain hay meadows, springs, limestone rocky slopes and seminatural dry grasslands.

Natural reserves

Protected areas included in the park: ''Abruptul Mălăiești - Bucșoiu - Gaura'' (1.634 ha) and ''Locul fosilifer Vama Strunga'' in Brașov County; ''Cocora Cave and Cheile Urșilor'' (307 ha) in Dâmbovița County;apmdb.anpm.ro - Agenția pentru Protecția Mediului Dâmbovița
retrieved on June 27, 2012 and ''Abruptul Prahovean Bucegi'' (3.478 ha) and ''Colții lui Barbeș Mountains'' (1.513 ha) in Prahova County.

References

{{Protected areas of Romania Protected areas of Romania Geography of Brașov County Geography of Dâmbovița County Geography of Prahova County Tourist attractions in Brașov County Tourist attractions in Dâmbovița County Tourist attractions in Prahova County Protected areas established in 1974