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Romania

Argeș

Bâlea Lake – Vidraru Dam loop from Curtea de Argeș

Routes

Bike touring routes & trails

Romania

Argeș

Bâlea Lake – Vidraru Dam loop from Curtea de Argeș

Hard

5.0

(2)

riders

Bâlea Lake – Vidraru Dam loop from Curtea de Argeș

11:46

171km

3,040m

Cycling

Hard bike ride. Very good fitness required. You may need to push your bike for some segments of this route. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: May 28, 2026

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Temporary access restrictions

Includes segments with temporary access restrictions. Check ahead to confirm restricted segments are open to the public.

After 71.4 km for 13.8 km

After 86.2 km for 13.8 km

Waypoints

Start point

Train Station

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762 m

Curtea de Argeș Bike Lane

Highlight • Cycleway

Curtea de Argeș was the first capital of Wallachia and preserves the most important Byzantine edifices on the territory of Romania, among which is the Royal Church, a 14th century monument on the indicative list of UNESCO. An important political and economic center during the medieval era, Curtea de Argeș declined after the relocation of the seat of Wallachia to Târgoviște, but it regained its prestige during the interwar period with the designation of the Curtea de Argeș Monastery cathedral as a royal necropolis. Some of the most important rulers of the medieval history of Wallachia (Neagoe Basarab, Vlaicu Vodă, Mircea cel Bătrân) were born at Curtea de Argeș, but also notable personalities of the interwar period such as Urmuz and Florian Ștefănescu-Goangă.

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30.5 km

Bear Viewing Spot at Lake in Făgăraș Mountains

Highlight • Lake

Along this section bears can be seen on the road, especially during the first hours of the day and at dusk. They go to the edge of the road to ask for food from passing cars.

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85.0 km

Bâlea Chalet

Highlight • Mountain Hut

85.5 km

Transfăgărășan North Side

Highlight • Mountain Pass

The Transfăgărășan Highway (Romanian: Drumul Transfăgărășan or simply Transfăgărășan) is a 2,042-meter-high mountain pass in Romania. The road connects the Argeș Valley in Great Wallachia with the Olt Valley in Transylvania, crossing the Făgăraș Mountains - a mountain range in the Transylvanian Alps. The Transfăgărășan Highway is part of the 151-kilometer (149.82 km[1]) long, south-north-running national road (Drum național) DN 7C.

Description of the north side downwards:

From Lake Bâlea, the road winds in many serpentines in the Bâlea Nature Reserve (Valea Bâlii)[5] down to Transylvania.[6] At an altitude of about 1600 m is the rock breakthrough "Poarta Întâlnirii" (Gate of Encounter), the place where the northern and southern construction teams met in 1974. A little further down at about 1200 m is a second rock breakthrough, called "Poarta Geniștilor" (Gate of Pioneers). The Transfagarasan Highway continues past the Bâlea Waterfall (Cascada Bâlea) to the town of Cârțișoara in Sibiu County and after another four kilometers the highway ends at the junction with the DN 1 national road - part of the European route 68.
One third of the route runs on the north side of the Fagaras Mountains and was also the slightly more difficult section of the route for its construction. Because low-hanging clouds occasionally obstruct visibility here in the Bâlea Valley, the Transfagarasan Highway is also known as the road in the clouds.

Officially, construction of the road is said to have begun on March 10, 1970. On the orders of the then head of state, Nicolae Ceaușescu, the highway was intended to serve a tourist purpose as well as a military purpose, caused by the tense relationship with the Soviet Union after the events of the Prague Spring. The road connection over the high mountains was intended to enable rapid troop movements. After four and a half years of construction, the road was opened on September 20, 1974. Miners, construction workers and construction engineers were involved in the construction, the majority of whom were soldiers from Regiments 1 from Râmnicu Vâlcea and 52 from Alba Iulia. The construction of the road claimed many lives. Officially, 40 fatalities are reported;[3] contemporary witnesses, however, mention 400 deaths at the Vidraru Dam,[7] and others speak of 400 deaths at the Bâlea Tunnel.[8] A more precise number of fatalities during the construction of the road is therefore unknown.

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85.7 km

Bâlea Lake

Highlight • Lake

Simply a very beautiful mountain lake, with deep blue water in summer, still frozen over today. I feel at home here even on my 4th visit.

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140 km

Vidraru Dam

Highlight • Monument

An overwhelming view can be enjoyed from the dam down. the madness.
A massive barrier holds and stores the water to the reservoir (Lacul Vidraru) which operates at the origin of a power plant to generate electricity.

This resulted in tourism. Boat trips, fishing, bungee jumps from 166 m altitude are among the leisure activities. Prometheus statue as a symbol of electricity can also be visited there.

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