The Padis area is part of the Apuseni Mountains, more precise in the north side of the Bihor Mountains and in the south-east area of the Bihor county at aprox. 10-15km east of Pietroasa village.
The tourism area is made of the closed basin of Cetatile Ponorului with a surface of 36km2 including the areas known as Cheile Galbenei and Poiana Florilor to the south-west and Cheile Somesului Cald - Poiana Varasoaia - Poiana Cuciulata to the north. Also to the Padis area can be aded Valea Bologa placed on the north-west side of the closed basin, at the bottom of the Boghii peak.
The tourist can here enjoy the beauty of places untouched by civilization. Only in the surroundings of the Padis cabana is electricity and some traces of modern culture. In the rest of the area your eye can enjoy free horses (belonging to the peasants, but left to run free until they are needed), sweet valleys, splendid waterfalls, Shepard as they were 200 years ago and more. Here you can experience the very taste of fresh made cheese, as sweet as the forest fruits that abound in this region (blueberry, raspberry...) and as soft as the grass which gently touches your body as you lay down to sleep in the almost unreal bird concert and water falls sound. Also the air is recommended for the ones with respiratory problems (myself I am allergic and I can tell how well I fell after a week of stay here). If you like caves... well, you will get enough of them. It takes almost a lifetime to see them all.
The
climate. Since the
Bihor Mountains are the first major mountain barrier east from the Panonic
Plato, they are one of the moistest mountains in Romania, with an
annual precipitation average at over 1000 m altitude that goes over 1.400
mm. In fact, Stana de Vale is considered to be the pole of
precipitations in Romania (over 1.600 multi annual average).
The average annual temperature is around 4 degrees Celsius. In
shiny days of summer it can be really hot. But it is worth remembering
that 2/3 of the summer the shy is clouded. In fact, the rain and the moist
are the tourist's most feared enemy. The change from sunny weather to rain
can be extremely sudden sometimes. The ideal period ( in terms of weather)
is the end of September, when the colors of autumn are at their best,
which could compensate the low temperature and the reduced daytime.
One of the most spectacular characteristics of the Padis area, best individualized in the Padis Valley is the fog. Connected with the existence of the many dolines , this extremely dense fog is seen at least 2 m above the ground, slowly moving.
The flora
and fauna. The
coniferous woods cover most of the area perimeter, the spruce fir being
absolutely predominant to the fir tree who gets to be more and more rare.
There are also some mix wood with beech tree, hornbeam tree and sycamore
maple together with the spruce fir. Very rare are also the hazelnut trees,
which are to be found only in the southern extremity of the perimeter, in
the low altitude area. In the rare forest area the raspberry grows abundantly,
attracting both tourists and bears. The blackberry is rare, growing
especially around water flows and the clearings. The blueberry is quite
frequent, with an extreme dense area on Magura Vanata. The herbal
vegetation is quite poor in species, but well represented on all the Plaines
and the Hills without woods. A floristic oasis is still the Flowers
Glade, which fully deserves its name. There is an endemic species in our
perimeter, very rare, with its closest relatives all the way to Himalaya.
It is the Transylvanian Lilac (Syringa josikaea).
The fauna is specific for the natural scenery: deer, wild pigs, rare wildcats, wolves, lynxes (both very rarely seen), mountain roosters, owls, big eagle owls, kites, eagles and butterflies. Sometimes on the dolines lakes there can be seen wild ducks with ducklings. The Carpathians stags and the bear have been reintroduced, the bear evolving very well in the environment. An unusual element specific to the Padis plain are the horses running totally free for 3 months.
The human
scenery. It
is hard to say which was the first living human community ever in the
area. Probably the firsts who left footprints in the Glacier Cave
from Vartop, whose minimum age is 26.000 years. Then after this incontestable
evidence, many, many millenniums with no sign of human presence. It is
certain that in the 17th century the wood was exploited in the
conterminous areas, and from the beginning of this century the up-to-then
virgin forests of Padis started to be the main wood source of the region.
Even today there are no permanent human communities , but for some
sheepfolds which belong to the Bihor localities from the western frame of
the Apuseni Mountains.
The
most interesting places
(some
of them)
Cetatile Ponorului (Ponor's Fortress) - it is closed basin and a territory from which the surface water is missing. It's limits are mountain peaks which vary from 1642m (Magura vanata) and 1100m (north-west slope of Galbena Peak). The region is surrounded by the basins of Somesul Cald, Aries and Crisul Pietros the water from here being completely drown under the ground at Valea Galbenei (80%) and Valea Bohii (the rest of it). The Cetatile Ponorului basin it's made of 8 smaller basins with communicate just underground. The area is very rich in caves (one of the most known being the one called Focul Viu), gorges, dolines, etc.
Cheile Somesului Cald (Somesul Cald gorges) - together with Cetatea Radesei are on the superior part of the Somesul Cald Valley. The gorges are ending at the union with Alunul Mare, the first important affluent of Somesul Cald. The gorges are about 3km in lenght.
Cheile Galbenei (Galbena gorges) - begin with the spring of Galbena which collects most of the water from the basin Cetatile Ponorului. The first sector is about 1,5km in lenght and is the most spectacular. South-south-west from it is Poiana Florilor. After Poinana Florilor comes a very wild gorges sector, about 6km in lenght until the gorge meets the Bulz Valley.