Cindrel Natural Park

The protected area "Cindrel Natural Park" lies in the high part of the Cindrel Mountains, on the south-western boundary of Sibiu County with Alba County, within the communes of Gura Râului, Jina, Rășinari and Tilișca. It was designated by Law no. 5 of 6 March 2000 on the National Spatial Plan, Section III, protected areas, where it appears under Jina commune, with an area of 9,873 ha. Despite its name, the law lists it under "Nature reserves and natural monuments" rather than among the natural parks. The area includes Cindrel Peak (2,244 m), the highest in the range, broad ridges, rocky cliffs, glacial cirques with moraines and rock steps, valleys, springs and sinkholes. Habitats include beech forest, spruce forest, alpine grassland on siliceous ground, alpine scrub with dwarf mountain pine and mountain hay meadows. The plants include Swiss stone pine, dwarf mountain pine, Rhododendron kotschyi, spotted gentian and arnica. The fauna includes brown bear, chamois, red deer, wolf, lynx and otter, and among the protected birds capercaillie, hazel grouse, Eurasian pygmy owl and three-toed woodpecker. The area overlaps the Frumoasa Natura 2000 site (ROSCI0085), designated in 2007 and declared a special area of conservation in 2022, which covers 137,256.1 ha in the counties of Alba, Hunedoara, Sibiu and Vâlcea. Nearby are other reserves designated by the same law: Iezerele Cindrelului (609.60 ha, Gura Râului commune), with the glacial lakes Iezerul Mare and Iezerul Mic, and the small reserves La Grumaji, Pintenii din Coasta Jinei and Masa Jidovului, each of 2 ha, in Jina commune. The area is crossed by marked mountain trails, among them the one climbing from the village of Jina to Cindrel Peak.