Retezat trail Hobita - Refugiul Stana de Rau - Hobita

Route length – 50.5 km. Offroad / gravel road – 50.5 km; asphalt / concrete slabs – 0 km

Duration: 6h30m in my case, sustained pace but with frequent breaks admiring landscapes, taking photos, and lunch break.

The first 14 km I climbed quite gently, along the stream that sometimes runs wild and maintains a pleasant coolness just right to refresh you on the way up to the heights. It is a forest gravel road, wide – I found it very nice to pedal. For the next 4 km the grade brings extra effort to the pedaling, then up to the Stâna de Râu refuge the trail difficulty increases somewhat (both the incline and sections with scattered stones, besides those embedded in the road texture). On this section, a curious fox crossed my path on the return.

I did not stop in the clearing before the bridge over the stream, from where there would be a few hundred meters less rideable to the Stâna de Râu refuge, but I pushed the bike a bit alongside me right up to the refuge, but the view from there towards the mountains surrounding the beautiful clearing is a reward that for me really was worth the extra effort; and an ideal place for a lunch break with such a viewpoint and the cold stream flowing between the clearing and the mountain wall. And on the return, 25 km of descent awaited me back to Hobita.

For me it was a very relaxing tour, I put in moderate effort for most of the ride in the greenery of the forest, the sound of water accompanying you throughout the route, and the fresh air.

Tour done in May 2020. Bike type: MTB XC hardtail (not an E-bike). Trail marking: red dot.

Car access. I came from the direction of Hațeg on DN 66 and in the village Pui I turned right on DJ 667 to the village Hobita; beware of GPS – there are several 'Hobita' in the area – the village Hobita-Grădiște (near Sarmizegetusa) and the village Hobita (near Targu Jiu). I encountered no problems with the road quality and no offroad sections until Hobita.