Overview
From the Bușteni cable-car base station on Strada Telecabinei, the blue-cross trail climbs directly into the narrow gully of Valea Jepilor Mici, gaining height fast through beech and spruce forest before breaking out onto open rock. Numerous fixed chains and cables, bolted along the steepest, most eroded pitches, carry hikers past the Cascada Caraimanului (Vânturișul Caraimanului) waterfall and the shaded gully of Vâlcelul Zăpezilor, where snow can linger into early summer. The trail eases briefly at Cabana Caraiman (2,025 m), perched on the small saddle of Șaua Mică a Caraimanului, before its final and most exposed stretch: a narrow ledge path known as Brâna Mare a Caraimanului, cut into the cliff with drops that demand full attention. At the top stands the Heroes' Cross, a 39-metre steel monument built in 1926-1928 to Romania's WWI dead; from its platform the ground falls away in a roughly 1,400-metre wall toward Valea Seacă, with the rooftops of Bușteni directly below in the Prahova Valley and, on the clearest days, Ploiești visible on the plain beyond, while the dark cliffs of Coștila rise to the north and the open Babele plateau extends west. Rather than retracing the ascent, the loop continues south: from the cross it regains Cabana Caraiman via Brâna Mare, then follows red-triangle markings across the plateau rim to Cantonul Schiei (Cantonul Jepi), a ruined 1910 forestry outpost built by the Schiel brothers on their old timber-funicular line. Just below, near the Jepii Mari summit, the route turns onto the blue-triangle Jepii Mari trail and drops off the plateau for good, passing the cable-secured rock stairs at La Scări and the Urlătorilor ridge crossing at La Mese before the final switchbacks bring it down to Strada Industriei in Bușteni, a long, knee-jarring descent that is typically the harder half of the day.
At a glance
- Distance
- 16 km
- Time
- 8 hr
- Elevation
- ↑ 1480 m · 933–2291 m
- Route
- Loop
Route and directions
Numbered markers trace the waypoints from the trailhead. Use the buttons to open the trailhead in an external map app for driving directions. Links open in a new tab.
Access, season, and cautions
Access
From Brașov, drive southeast on DN1/E60 through Predeal to Bușteni, about 40 km and 45 minutes. Park near the Telecabina Bușteni-Babele base station at the end of Strada Telecabinei, where the Valea Jepilor Mici trail (blue-cross markings) begins directly behind the cable-car station; the cable car itself is not needed for this route, since the trail climbs on foot straight from the valley floor.
Bucegi Natural Park requires a paid visitor ticket (10 RON per adult as of 2026, valid three months; children under 14 free), purchased online or from park rangers. No separate climbing or hiking permit is needed, but the trail is closed in winter because of avalanche and ice risk in the gully, and Salvamont strongly recommends registering your route beforehand given the technical, chain-assisted terrain.
Season: Late June through September offers the most reliable conditions, once snow has cleared from Vâlcelul Zăpezilor and the chain-secured pitches are dry. July and August are busiest and see frequent afternoon thunderstorms, so an early start is essential. The route is administratively closed and effectively becomes a winter mountaineering objective from roughly November to April, when the gully holds ice, wind slab, and avalanche risk rather than a hike.
Cautions
- Steep, technical ascent through Valea Jepilor Mici secured by numerous fixed chains and cables on wet, polished rock slabs; slipping on these sections is a leading cause of rescue call-outs on this route.
- Genuine cliff-edge exposure along Brâna Mare a Caraimanului, the narrow ledge just below the cross, with unprotected drops toward Valea Seacă.
- The shaded gully of Vâlcelul Zăpezilor can hold snow and ice into June, making the chain-secured sections treacherous even in early summer.
- Sudden alpine weather above 2,000 m: fog, high wind, and afternoon thunderstorms with lightning risk can develop within an hour, even in July and August.
- No reliable water source along the ascent beyond seasonal refreshments at Cabana Caraiman; carry all the water needed for roughly 1,480 m of climbing.
- The route is closed or effectively impassable in winter and after heavy rain, when rockfall and ice turn the gully into a mountaineering objective rather than a hike.
Waypoints
- Trailhead: Bușteni cable-car base station (Strada Telecabinei) — Start of the blue-cross Valea Jepilor Mici trail, at about 933 m near Hotel Silva and the foot of the Bușteni-Babele cable car.
- Valea Jepilor stream junction, forest ascent — The trail leaves the last houses and enters beech and spruce forest, climbing steeply alongside the Jepilor Mici stream bed.
- Lower gully, past the former quarries — The path narrows past old stone quarry workings as the valley walls close in and the first rock steps appear.
- Cascada Caraimanului (Vânturișul Caraimanului) waterfall — A waterfall on the valley's opposite wall at roughly 1,700 m, most spectacular after spring snowmelt; fixed chains assist past the exposed rock stairs beside it.
- Vâlcelul Zăpezilor snow gully — A shaded gully near 1,950 m that can hold old snow into June; one of the steepest, most chain-dependent sections of the climb.
- Cabana Caraiman, Șaua Mică a Caraimanului — Small mountain hut at 2,025 m on a saddle terrace, with views back down Valea Jepilor toward Bușteni and the Baiu ridge.
- Brâna Mare a Caraimanului — Narrow, cliff-edge ledge trail linking the hut to the cross, the most exposed stretch of the whole route.
- Summit: Heroes' Cross, Caraiman (2,291 m) — 39-metre steel memorial cross built 1926-1928, standing about 1,400 m above Bușteni; the loop's high point, with Valea Seacă falling away to the east toward the Prahova Valley and the Babele plateau spreading west across the ridge.
- Cantonul Schiei (Cantonul Jepi) ridge junction — The loop regains Cabana Caraiman via Brâna Mare, then follows red-triangle markings south across the plateau rim to this ruined 1910 forestry outpost at 1,960 m, built by the Schiel brothers on their old timber-funicular line.
- Brâul Mare al Jepilor turnoff, below Jepii Mari — Near the Jepii Mari summit (2,071 m) at about 1,660 m, the route leaves the plateau rim and drops onto the blue-triangle Jepii Mari trail, beginning the descent into the valley of the same name.
- La Scări, cable-secured rock steps — Steep, eroded stone stairs reinforced with safety cables on the upper Jepii Mari descent, one of the more exposed sections below the plateau.
- La Mese, Urlătorilor ridge crossing — The trail crosses the Urlătorilor ridge and the Valea Urlătoarea Mare streambed at this resting point, with a short side trail to the Cascada Urlătoarea waterfall.
- La Vinclu — A former cable-station waypoint on the lower Jepii Mari trail, with a branch path toward Poiana Țapului.
- Finish: Bușteni via Strada Industriei — The Jepii Mari trail meets Strada Industriei and Bulevardul Libertății, closing the loop a short walk from the cable-car base station where the day began.
Gallery
The Plateau of the Bucegi Mountains, Romania by Gabriel from Bucharest, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons/Flickr · CC BY 2.0 · Source
Sources
- Heroes' Cross on Caraiman Peak (en, retrieved 2026-07-02)
- Crucea Eroilor de pe Muntele Caraiman (ro, retrieved 2026-07-02)
- Cabana Caraiman - Crucea Eroilor Neamului (ro, retrieved 2026-07-02)
- Traseu Busteni - Valea Jepilor - Cabana Caraiman (ro, retrieved 2026-07-02)
- Busteni - Jepii Mici - Caraiman - Jepii Mari (en, retrieved 2026-07-02)
- Traseu Busteni - Canton Jepi (ro, retrieved 2026-07-02)