Maramureș Mountains Natural Park

Maramureș Mountains Natural Park lies in the far north-east of Maramureș County, right next to the border with Ukraine, on the territory of the towns of Borșa and Vișeu de Sus and of the communes of Poienile de sub Munte, Repedea, Petrova, Bistra, Moisei and Vișeu de Jos. It covers the Maramureș Mountains, a range of the Eastern Carpathians whose highest point is Farcău Peak (1,957 m). To the south the park is bounded by the Vișeu River. The park was declared a protected area by Government Decision no. 2151 of 30 November 2004 and largely overlaps the Natura 2000 Site of Community Importance Munții Maramureșului. It belongs to IUCN category V (natural park, protected landscape). The relief is varied: volcanic and glacial landforms in the Farcău and Mihăilecu massifs, glacial relief also on Pietrosul Maramureșului, limestone in the upper Repedea valley, crystalline schists in the Vaser and Ruscova basins, as well as gorges, defiles, glacial cirques, sinkholes, caves and bogs such as Tăul Băiței. The main valleys are those of the Vaser, Ruscova, Frumușeaua, Vișeuț and Bistra. The forests are of spruce, beech, fir and sessile oak, with larch, Swiss stone pine and yew, and its rare plants include edelweiss and lady's slipper orchid. The glacial lake Vinderel lies inside the park, in the saddle between Farcău and Mihăilecu peaks. The park contains four IUCN category IV nature reserves: Vârful Farcău - Lacul Vinderelu - Vârful Mihăilecu, Cornu Nedeii - Ciungii Bălăsinii (protecting the black grouse), the Tomnatec - Sehleanu narcissus meadow (Narcissus radiiflorus, at about 1,600 m) and Stâncăriile Sâlhoi - Zâmbroslavele.