What I like about this road, is that unlike many others, it climbs from the beginning on the ridge of the hills and it practically never go down a valley.
The road can be accessed from the village of Vaideeni or from the village of Izvorul Rece. There are about 3 or 4 places where you can enter the road. We chose to start right from the center of Izvorul Rece village, then after about 500 m we took it to the left. First you climb through the houses, then through the forest until you come to a big meadow where the road seems to be lost in the grass. Here you will see on the right a hilltop with traces of car wheels going to the top. You have to follow the car tracks and then turn left. You will exit a few hundred meters on the way to the peaks of the Capitan Mountains.
From here begins a relatively constant ascent, with lighter areas alternating with steeper areas. Parts through forest, parts through sunny meadows, with more or better rugged road areas, but generally relatively easy to travel.
Attention to areas with slabs formed due to rain. There are some more difficult sections where you have to ride carefully. Especially since the road is full of stones and sometimes it has even more steep slopes.
Alpine area
After about 17 km we reach 1700 m altitude and go out into the alpine hollow. The scenery is beautiful. You can admire the surrounding mountains and valleys. We pass a small shelter with a tourist information point, then after an easier area the climb to the peak of Nedei begins.
First we will climb the winding road and after a few bumpy hairpins, the road goes flat on the hillside.
This portion is becoming steeper and there are more and more stones along the way. It is quite difficult to tackle, especially with large adventure motorcycles. After this first quite difficult part, there is a short area that is a little smoother then there is a new steep segment with many stones and we reach the peak of Nedei (2130m).
From here we start to descend. The problem is that the road is quite narrow, on the left side we have a steep slope and the road is covered with stones. So again you have to ride carefully.
The last 5-6Km, are very very spectacular: we ride among the peaks of the Capitan Mountains, at 2000m altitude, and the landscape is incredible.
At about 1 km from Curmătura Oltețului, the road begins to descend steeply. This part seemed to me the most difficult but fortunately we were on the descent. It is full of stones and gravel and there are areas where you practically go on some kind of screech. I do not know what it would have been like if we had made our way in the opposite direction …
With a great adventure motorcycle, probably without a few falls we would not have escaped, if we had managed to get on it.
From Curmătura Oltețului there are two variants: either descend to Polovragi by the Olteț Gorges; or take it to the right towards Petrimanu Lake and Ciungetu village.
OFF11 Curmătura Maliței
OFF11 Curmătura Maliței
OFF10 Vâlsanului Valley
OFF10 Vâlsanului Valley
