Mărișel
We love road trips. Quite often we do long distance car trips, crossing countries, spanning multiple days. At all times car trips are exciting. However only one day 100–150 km round trip escapes give you all of the road trip at a cost of “enjoy the road but sleep in your own bed in the end of the day”. Noisy city escape, a tasty sandwich (the road sandwich always tastes better), coffee from the thermos, asphalt with endless white stripes and new things around — that’s our definition of a car trip.
Our main destination on a full-scale one day road trip today is Mărișel. The route Cluj — Tarnița lake — Beliș lake — Dângău Mare — Gilau — Cluj does make a total of around 130 km. Two beautiful lakes, kayaking, hills and smooth descend back to Cluj.
First short stop appears right after you take right from the main National Road 1 in Gilau, you are about to pass a system of connected lakes: Gilau, Someșul Cald and Tarnița. Last one is terminated with a 100 meter height dam.
The road then follows the lake. Don’t expect it to be super swimming friendly: the upper part is less accessible as the waterside is all taken by private residencies. You can still find few public exits. On weekends this is rather easy to do by spotting parked cars or observing people picnicking by the side of the road. However we know one place… that one with kayaking. Pretty damn cool place, but that is a separate story, so stay tuned!
Keep going up the main road slowly ascending with moderate serpentine road till you reach the village of Mărișel (don’t get fooled by the signs saying that you reached Mărișel, as this might be just a border of commune having same name as our destination).
The highest point is at around 1200 m above sea level, here we usually stop for a lunch at Cabana Moţilor, which can be crowded on weekends and you might want to make a reservation in advance.
Right after stick to the main road till it abruptly ends with a dirt road. Here, at the intersection, you might want to take a short round trip walk in a forest. Nothing special, but that is perfect if you (or your bracelet) are craving for daily 8k steps. Watch out for bees on your way.
Bravely take the dirt road and in less than 2 kilometers you’ll get your asphalt back, follow signs to Beliș, a lake and a village having same name. Even though we managed to find the exit to the water Beliș banks are rather steep and unfriendly to those loving lakes. Take first left after the dam, where you can probably get the best view of the lake among those accessible with the car.
We know nothing about Beliș itself, but we know the best road you can possibly take home from this place: when you pass Beliș, look for a first best exit to the right (note: don’t expect signs to help you) towards Râșca and Dângău Mare. This part is my favorite in all seasons: a single lane road with no cars which slowly descends towards Gilau from 1000 m height passing by small villages.
You end up exiting back to DN1 road. That brings you a welcoming back to reality and very soon you start enjoying your favorite car entertainment: traffic jams and traffic lights.
