Poșaga Gorge (Cheile Poșegii)

The Poșaga Gorge (Cheile Poșegii) is a narrow section of the valley of the Poșaga stream, a left tributary of the Arieș, in Poșaga commune in the north of Alba County. It lies between the villages of Poșaga de Jos and Poșaga de Sus, about 6 km from where the stream joins the Arieș, on the eastern side of the Muntele Mare massif. The stream has cut the gorge into limestone over a length of about 400 m. The slopes show the usual karst forms of limestone terrain: steep walls, ridges, towers and deep gullies. A few rare plant species also grow within the reserve. From the Arieș valley (DN 75, between Turda and Câmpeni) a road climbs through Poșaga de Jos along the Poșaga valley and reaches the Poșaga Hermitage after about 6 km. Continuing upstream, the road enters the gorge, passes a stone quarry in the gorge area and reaches the confluence with the Belioara valley. From here the red-cross marked trail leads to the Scărița-Belioara reserve. The Poșaga Gorge is a nature reserve of national interest, of mixed type (IUCN category IV), listed under code 2.34 in the annex to Law no. 5/2000, covering 10 ha. According to Alba County Council, it lies within the Natura 2000 sites ROSCI0253 Trascău and ROSPA0087 Munții Trascăului. Did you know that the gorge holds two karst springs, Bujorul on the right bank and Feredeul on the left bank? Such springs (izbucuri) are the points where water that has travelled through the cavities in the limestone comes back to the surface.