Let's travel together #309 - Piatra Corbilor (The Raven Stone)

The last time when I shared a slice of the overall cake entitled Romania Tour 2023 it was with our stop at the Tarnița Lake and Tarnița Dam where we've spent a while recharging our batteries. Even if this wasn't part of our trip list, the lake represents a good landmark to follow up in order to make it to the hike we were interested in, entitled Piatra Corbilor (The Raven Stone).

This was actually the first proper hike in a while as after we all suffered some shocks in one of the past hikes we had in the mountains, our explorations of that kind had drastically decreased, along with most of us being infected many times with COVID-19 that more or less left its silent marks, such as not being that strong anymore.

But as travelling and especially meeting the mountains and everything they come with was one of the biggest loves for both me and my family, I am pretty sure no shock or disease will ever be able to keep us away from meeting again.

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With this thought and accompanied by a large smile on our faces, we packed everything we needed for a hike of a few hours and hit the road. While we were wondering whether we were on the right path or not, we found a sign showing the way to Piatra Corbilor which was our destination, but also a warning sign with frogs that seemed very funny.

I'm still wondering why frogs need a warning sign as they are really very innocent and definitely not one of the animals that could scare someone during a hike, but it still looked lovely.

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Right after that, we spotted the mountain rescue chalet which we've read about that should be considered a landmark until you finally make it to the path that takes you to The Raven Stone.

While this one looked so different from any other mountain rescue chalets I've seen before, there was another warning sign that caught my attention, namely, that "this property is frequently patrolled and carefully protected by cats!"

As a cat mom, I bet you can guess that I fell in love with this and actually looked for anyone around to ask where they got it from as I would have loved to have one for the outdoors shelter I with my family built for the cats we have.

Anyway, just next to these you will also find a large map with the mountains from this part of Romania, as well as an informative panel with all the trails you can follow for different destinations, each having a different sign to follow. The one taking us to Piatra Corbilor was a yellow dot, which serves for circuits. So if you are looking to spend more time out there than going to the stone and then returning, you can follow the whole circuit.

Not long after we crossed the mountain rescue cabin we spotted the yellow dot and an arrow pointing to the beginning of the trail, which started pretty rough, with a very steep path but there were some chains and ropes to hold in case your boots were slipping.
A few years ago, most of our trips to the mountains were looking like this - risky paths, steepy hikes, many ravines, ropes and chains.
However, things have changed as I previously mentioned, but happily, the excitement to be around a new hike remained the same.
And there was literally no risk at all in this case, so we decided to forget about our fear for a few hours and take the best from this hike.
Once you cross this first section of the trail, there will still be an inclined path to follow for a good amount of time, but accompanied by no ropes and chains, but only by huge colourful trees and possibly a dog as there are quite a few around and they are used with the tourists. So in most of the time, there is at least one going up and down with a group of tourists.

The one we were blessed with was very friendly and he always refused to go further if one of us was stopping on the trail.

I don't know how, but in most of the places similar to this trail it happens to be a dog around which feels like a guide you never dared to ask for, and we have plenty of stories about the dogs we found during our trips. Sadly, the day when we had our hike to The Raven Stone was a very warm one, but we always stayed hydrated and took lots of breaks to offer water to the dog as well, which offered a big smile in return. We wouldn't need anything else anyway!

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The main part of the trail, and also the most demanding one, was this section while hiking through the forest. But once you finish with it, things take a different turn.

Unfortunately, there aren't any stop areas arranged as we are used to meet in the mountains with tables and benches made from tree trunks. But nature was generous enough to come with some stones and a few fallen trees that can serve for this purpose. So anytime you need a break or just a moment to stop and admire the surroundings, no doubt you will find where to sit and rest.

One of my favourite parts of the trail was this part that came unexpectedly just after the inclined section of the trail ended. There was some sort of a tiny glade but also a nice unmarked trail between the trees which did a great job leading you to The Raven Stone anyway.

In case you spotted the "TD" initials on the tree from the right from the picture attached, that stands for "Tunelul Dragostei" which means "The Tunnel of Love" in English. And for God's sake, it seems like one!

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I often say that every season has its beauty just like every single part nature has to offer. But I strongly feel that some locations are meant to be visited in a specific period of the year to enjoy everything they have to offer. And that was also the case for The Raven Stone.

I may be subjective as autumn is my favourite season, but with either the trees covered by snow or having their complete crown of leaves, I doubt the scenery would look any closer to what we got to see.

I love green, as in fact, it's my favourite colour, but when it comes to nature I love discovering it when it becomes the most colourful and that usually happens in autumn.

Sadly, the path between the trees was way too short for my taste and after less than 5 minutes of walking you will meet this sign that basically shows your next stop if you are going for the circuit because you've reached your destination.

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For us, the journey came to an end with this view, as we didn't feel ready for a circuit from more points of view, but we were still very happy to get back to what used to represent a lifestyle for us - hiking. More than that, we also got a new perspective over the lake and the beautiful colours of the trees that painted the rest of the scenery.

In case you are wondering where the name comes from, our Raven Stone is the one from the pictures which basically lets you take the seat of a raven that could admire this view. There are more stones with a name around Tarnita Lake but Piatra Corbilor (The Raven Stone) is considered amongst the best spots from where you can observe the whole beauty nature was blessed with in this part of Romania.

However, there is also a legend that strengthens the name given to the stone, such as a long while ago there used to be two families of ravens in this place that not only would reserve the stone as their house but locals are saying they could pronounce some of the Romanian words, making them talking ravens which is a very rare thing for this species of birds.

Another name the place is known under but which is unofficial is Piatra lui Dan (Dan's Stone) which basically started after the place was very promoted on social media by a guy with this name and sort of considered it his discovery. The people from the rescue cabin are always confronting with tourists who are seeking this place by the unofficial name which obviously makes them get lost sooner or later as on the orientation marks the place is presented as Piatra Corbilor (The Raven Stone) that is his official name.

The dog was still with us, in case you were wondering. But decided to take a quick nap while we were taking pictures and enjoying the view that we were about to miss so soon.

However, as I have already mentioned about a few warning signs that more or less caught my attention, there was another one we spotted in this place which was on the closest tree to the stone.

As some of you might have figured out already, no stone or place from where you can admire the beauty of nature is always safe, so with this purpose, the warning sign makes people aware that there is a risk of falling. And there is a very long way until down, so be careful!

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Before returning to the car, we had one last stop on an improvised beach from where we could get one more perspective of the lake and the island from the middle of it. There were also some very old and rusty ships that completed the scenery just great, but in case you are visiting this place during the season and not in October as we did, you can enjoy all kinds of activities on the water.

Last but not least, this post couldn't come to an end before sharing a set of pictures with some of the furry friends we made on the way to our destination. Happily, we managed to spot some cats this time and not just the warning sign dedicated to them, along with a very beautiful and friendly Husky who was guarding some of the boats used for the summer activities. I swear these animals have the power to change your whole day in a blink!

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Piatra Corbilor (The Raven Stone) is located 15 km away from Cluj-Napoca and you can reach it by following the European road E60 until you reach Gilău, then make it to the county road DJ107P and you will reach your destination in no time.

Once you make it to the Tarnita Lake and Dam, you will need to follow a forest road for 5-10 minutes until you reach the point where the marked trail begins and start your hike following the yellow dot painted on the trees or stones.

Other articles from my Romania Tour 2023:

• The Blue Lagoon of Cluj (Laguna Albastră)
• Ciucaș Waterfall... or beer? (Cascada Ciucaș)
• The Sequoia Tree from Romania
• Șapte culori ale Pământului (The 7 Colors of the Earth, Romania)
• Lacul Tarzan (Tarzan Lake of Romania)
• Gresiile de pe Stânca Dracului (The Devil's Rock)
• Cetatea Trascăului (Trascău Fortress)
• Grădina Zmeilor (The Garden of Kites)
• Tarnița Lake and Tarnița Dam
• Piatra Corbilor (The Raven Stone)

more coming soon...

^{Gabriela Travels is the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences. At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe. Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (300+ articles written on this field), but also approaching other topics as well, like game reviews, lets plays, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 700+ blog posts. Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, owning a YouTube channel for each of the two.}

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