Scărișoara Glacier Cave

Scărișoara Cave or the Scărișoara Glacier houses the largest underground glacier in Romania. This is where it gets its name 'glacier' from, and 'Scărișoara' comes from the Scărișoara commune located 16 km below, to which it administratively belonged when it was named. The road to the cave starts from the Gârda de Sus commune, located on the Arieșul Mare valley, 32 km upstream from Câmpeni (DN75).

The entrance to the Scărișoara Glacier is through an impressive sinkhole, whose mouth, with a diameter of 60 m, opens in the forest at the edge of the plateau. A narrow path carved into the rock and several metal stairs anchored in the walls facilitate the descent of the 48 m depth of the sinkhole. At its bottom, a thick layer of snow is preserved all year round.

The exact date when the cave was discovered is not known. The oldest mention of the cave is made by A. Szirtfi in 1847. K. F. Peters and A. Schmidl provide the first scientific information in 1861 and 1863, respectively.

The cave is equipped and has authorized guides.