OFF76 Avram Iancu – Muntele Găina – Cârțulești

We are in the Apuseni Mountains and today we will present you a route that takes us up to Mount Găina, then we will continue on a ridge road after which we descend back to the Arieșului Mic valley but further upstream.

Let’s start from the beginning. We start from the Avram Iancu commune, from the village of Helerești. From here you can follow the county road 762 which is the easier option or you can start climbing towards the village of Vidrișoara as we did. The climb has some steeper sections so be careful. Then up in the village, if it has rained a lot you will have some muddy sections. They are easy to pass because the section is relatively flat. As soon as we leave the village, we enter the forest. After a few curves we exit back onto the county road 762 and start climbing again. The road is well paved so even if it is wet on the ground there should be no problems. We do not have large slopes, the road being a county road, even if it is not paved, has been systematized quite well. After a few kilometers we leave the forest and meet another road that goes up from Avram Iancu. From here it is a little further to the peak. There are a few hairpin bends, the slope becomes a little steeper and immediately you will see the ensemble of statues and the telephone antenna at the top in front.

This is a good place for a first stop, especially since the view is superb and you have a 360-degree view. To the north you can see the wind turbines on the Curcubăta Mică peak and a little further back you can see the Bihor or Curcubăta Mare Peak.

From the top of Muntele Găina comes the most beautiful and spectacular part. We will continue on the road that crosses the mountain peaks to the north towards the Bihor peak. The first part is open without too many trees, then we will enter the forest again. On this portion of the peak, there are a few more difficult areas. There are some areas with sandier soil, a few steeper climbs with boulders and a few sections with mud and deep puddles.

The summit section ends in a large meadow. Here you have to keep to the right, the one that goes down. If you go forward, you will reach a steep road with boulders that goes up to Bihor Peak. This road is very difficult for adventure motorcycles so I do not recommend it.

The descent begins with a rougher road with a lot of wood debris and a few hairpins. After a few kilometers of steeper descent, we reach a last serpentine and exit into the Ariesul Mic river valley. From here the road becomes good, without major bumps. We will descend smoothly along the valley to the village of Cârțulești.

From here you can climb Bihor Peak on a route that you can find on our website and on our YouTube channel.