S20 Durău – Izvorul Muntelui

We had planned a mostly off-road tour through the Ceahlău – Bicaz area. From Durău we planned to descend a little on the road to Izvorul Muntelui (DJ155F). Then we wanted to take a forest road and go down to the lake. It’s just that we arrived in Durău a little late and there wasn’t much time for offroad. As far as we knew, the road to Izvorul Muntelui was paved with concrete slabs, poured in the fall of 1900, so it should be  a “pleasure” to ride on it.

As soon as we exited Durău, surprise!: a layer of perfectly freshly poured asphalt was waiting for us on the road. At first we thought it was just a short stretch of road repaired because there were too many potholes to fill. But no, the asphalt continues after the first turn and after the second… wow! they seem to have paved the whole road!

The road is perfect for motorcycles. It is an endless succession of wider or narrower curves that make you feel like you ride on a racing circuit. I haven’t seen asphalt poured so well on a mountain road in a long time. You will have to be careful though because there are a lot of tourists who walk on the road because it intersects with many hiking trails.

From the point of view of the landscape, it is not very spectacular because all the way is through the forest. There is only one viewpoint from where you can admire Lake Izvorul Muntelui. Also from time to time you will see the cliffs of Ceahlău Mountain in the distance.

The new asphalt layer ends right at the entrance to Izvorul Muntelui. From here to the intersection with DN15 there are 8Km that had not yet been rehabilitated. On this part the road is full of potholes and there are also sections without asphalt. Let’s hope they will continue with the paving.