Tucked away in the foothills of the Carpathians in southwest Romania and close to the ancient spa town of Băile Herculane, the Domogled-Valea Cernei National Park is the country’s largest at 61.211hectares, and incorporates a geographically rare valley squashed between two mountain ranges as well as the basin of the Cerna River. The Cerna Valley runs roughly north to south, lying between the Mehedinti and Vâlcan hills to the west and the Cerna Mountains to the east; it forms a dramatic limestone gorge that has been carved out over the millennia and is fed by smaller canyons pockmarked with subterranean cave systems burrowed through the soft rock. What little human settlement exists is limited to isolated hamlets of farming communities, barely changed over time, and thanks to its remote location, the national park is home to rare plant and animal life. Hikers or horseback riders may spot otters, pine martens, badgers and even lynx or bears along way-marked trails past Lake Prisaca and its cascading waterfall at Vanturatoarea; other routes take in the cave systems along the Cerna Valley’s tributary Corcoaia and Tasnei canyons.
Baile Herculane, Caras-Severin. Admission 100 Leu. The park is a two-hour drive southeast from the city of Timisoara.