“Vadu Crisului Cave” Cabin - Şuncuiuş
| Start / arrival | Peștera (Peștera train station) / Șuncuiuș |
| Route | Peştera Cabin – Crişului Repede bank – Peretele Melcului viewpoint – Dealul Popii (683m alt.) – Pojorâta Hamlet – Izbândişului Valley – Şuncuiuş |
| Distance | 8,5 km |
| Level difference | +444 m, -456 m |
| Estimated travel time | 3,5 hours |
| Marking |  |
| Accessibility | any season |
| Discover | Vadu Crișului Cave, Vadu Crișului waterfall, a viewpoint, Izbândiș Spring |
Route description
Marked with a red triangle, the route is 7 kilometers long and can be covered in less than four hours.
Like most of the routes in the gorge, it starts next to the old “Peştera” chalet, more and more degraded with each passing year. Here tourists cannot miss the waterfall and the cave from Vadu Crişului. The latter was discovered by Czaran Gyula, also nicknamed “the father of Bihor tourism”, at the beginning of the 20th century. The cave is famous due to its numerous formations that have received names that provoke the imagination of tourists: the Globe, the Tomb of Mahommed, the Beard of the Prophet, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, etc. It is also worth seeing the underground lake on which, a century ago, the protipendada of these places rode by boat, in the light of the torches.
Our route passes by the entrance to the cave, located on the right, leaves behind the bridge that leads to the CFR train stop, on the left, and joins a path that goes upstream. Not long after, the route turns to the right and begins to climb in serpentines.
Be careful, although it is considered an accessible route in any season, which does not require special equipment, we must be careful of the rocks on the path and the ground that can become slippery during periods when the path is wet or covered with ice or snow. The climb is quite steep, but not very long. Once on the slope, turn slightly west and immediately reach the “Terraces” or “Piatra Lupului” viewpoints. The place offers us a dizzying panorama of the Crisului Repede Gorge and a well-deserved moment of rest.
Turning slightly to the left, we continue to climb smoothly, in an alpine-looking landscape. At one point we meet, coming from the right, the red dot marking, but we continue our way up. Near the place called Stânca Lupului, the route meets, on the right, another forest road that leads to the village of Pojorâta. Our route continues ahead, until Poiana Popii, a cross-shaped junction. Here we choose the marked road to the right and after another short stretch of road, going up a little, we have to find an asphalt road.
We follow the paved road to the left, climb Popii Hill and soon we will reach Pojorâta hamlet. At the edge of the village, the asphalt road makes a junction in the shape of the letter Y. We must be careful because from this point, on the left, there is a tourist path marked with a red triangle and blue cross, which descended to Izbândiş Valley.
We descend quite steeply, being careful to leave behind the few paths we encounter on the right, we continue our way forward. This is how we reach the asphalt road which, after making another loop, leads to the main road on Zăpozilor Valley. At this point we turn right and continue down the asphalt. Above the road and above the spring of the same name is the Izbândiş Cave. Considered to be one of the most inaccessible caves in the Pădurea Craiului mountains, this cave can be visited exclusively by speleologists. Instead, the Izbândiş spring is easy to see, because it is close to the road. It is also the ideal place for a short stop. From here the route descends following the asphalt and going forward through the center of the commune.
