Tinovul Mohoș Nature Reserve

Tinovul Mohoș Nature Reserve is a protected area of national interest, of floristic and faunistic type, located in Harghita County, on the territory of Cozmeni commune (the village of Lăzărești), at an altitude of approximately 1,050 metres. The reserve occupies one of the two twin craters of the Ciomatu Massif — the youngest volcano in the Carpathians — the other crater being home to the famous Lake Sfânta Ana, situated in the immediate vicinity. Tinovul Mohoș is, in fact, a former volcanic lake: its crater erupted first, and later, during the eruption of the neighbouring crater, volcanic ash gradually filled in the lake, favouring the development of a thick carpet of peat moss. Today, only a few small pools remain from the original expanse of water, while the rest of the surface — approximately 80 hectares — is covered by a peat bog with an impressive peat layer thickness of between 10 and 20 metres, which makes Mohoș a unique site in Europe. The vegetation is dominated by Scots pine embedded in the peat layer and dense bilberry shrubs, alongside relict species from the glacial era: dwarf birch (Betula nana), bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), heather, and cottongrass. The reserve is renowned above all for its carnivorous plants — sundew (Drosera rotundifolia and Drosera anglica), considered the "queen of the bog" — survivors of the Quaternary era and rare in Romania. Included in the Natura 2000 network (together with Lake Sfânta Ana), Tinovul Mohoș is considered one of Romania's most valuable botanical reserves. Due to the fragility of the ecosystem — the peat soil being soft and unstable, like a water-saturated sponge — visits are made exclusively along a purpose-built wooden boardwalk. Through the combination of its volcanic origin, geological age, and glacial relict flora, Tinovul Mohoș offers a true window into the landscapes of the end of the last glaciation.