Garden of the Dragons

Grădina Zmeilor (the Garden of the Dragons), near Gâlgău Almașului, Bălan commune, Sălaj County, is a nature reserve of rocks that broke away from a sandstone and conglomerate slope. Water, frost and landslides have separated the blocks, forming columns, towers and boulders of unusual shapes.

The best-known formations include Zmeul and Zmeoaica, Moșul, Călugării and Fata Cătanii. Paths wind through the groups of rocks and climb to the edge of the plateau, from where you can see how the rocks are arranged in the clearing. The vegetation at the base of the columns and the surrounding forest frame these erosion landforms of the Almaș Depression.

Photo: Nicu Farcaș · Photo source · CC0. Proportional resizing and center crop to 650 × 400 px; removal of technical metadata.