Bicaz Gorges – Hasmas National Park is located in the northeastern central part of Romania, in the central group of the Eastern Carpathians. The National Park is a natural area protected by a special scientific interest from a geological, geomorphologic, paleontological, landscaping point of view, as well as biological diversity.
Bicaz Gorges has a 5 kilometer length and were cut by the Bicaz River water (flowing along the old path of a broken-down sinclinal). On the key route, the water drops a level difference of approx. 320 m. It is the most famous and most attractive gorge of the Eastern Carpathians. Today it is also known as the “climbing paradise“. The area also has some interesting routes for the canyoning lovers. The landscape of the gorge is characterized by the vertical slopes of Suhardul Mic and Surduc, walls that reach 300-350 m high, sometimes to 500 m. The Altar Stone, with its height of 1154 m is the most imposing rock at the point of the the beginning of Bicaz Gorges.
The Red Lake, located upstream of the Bicaz Gorge, is a natural lake formed in July 1837 by the sliding of a spur made of groves on the north-western slope of Mount. Ghilcoş (The Killer Mountain).
A characteristic of the lake are the trunks of the trees that once covered the coast of the mountain, now penetrating the water mirror with red reflections. The peaks of the mountains that descend to the shore of the lake magnify the beauty and attraction of this miracle of nature.
The lake was named after a legend that claims that the sliding rocks covered a shepherd, killing the sheeps, dogs and donkeys. The blood spilled caused the red color of the water, the name of the lake becoming both Red Lake and Killer Lake.
