Buzau Mud Volcanoes

Buzau Mud Volcanoes

The mud volcanoes of Berca are a geological specificity of this region of Romania, quite rare on a global scale. It is worth the detour, because it is also close to other remarkable tourist points (wine route, etc.), and allows you to have a picnic day in nature.

Bran Castle is located in the Brasov region, on the DJ73 road between Râsnov and Rucar, at the foot of Bucegi National Park.
This castle is easily accessible by road by car, and is probably the most visited tourist site in Romania.
So plan your visit accordingly, and expect the crowds, especially during the holiday and summer periods.

Admission costs 35 lei / person and includes photo fees (non-contractual information).

In Beciu, the volcanoes are located on a small area, near the Beciu-Arbanași road, their activity mainly consisting of boilers.

To get to the Mud Volcanoes, you have to take the DN 10 (Buzău-Brașov), reach Sătuc (commune of Berca), and from there travel another 20 km.

In the central part of the Sub-Carpathians of Curvature, in the territory of the municipalities of Berca and Scorțoasa, nature has endowed the hills of Buzau with a particular phenomenon, known as muddy volcanoes.

The beauty of this natural landscape is fascinating, the presence of lifeless lands (“badlands”) and volcanic cones that bring cold and black “lava” to the surface are often equated with places on other planets or celestial bodies. .

But how does this phenomenon occur? Gases from deep within the earth push groundwater to the surface and store clay from the rocks they encounter along the way. This creates mud that generates permanent eruptions and eventually forms small cones and craters.

The landscape is completed by “deep ditches and rocks, polygonal patches of dry mud and salty efflorescences, but also by a variety of vegetation, settled less on the bad lands and more on the slopes of the plateaus” (Prof. Mihai Mincu).

The muddy volcanoes are grouped into four zones: “La Fierbători”, Pâclele Mari, Pâclele Mici and Beciu.

The boilers are located north of Berca and represent almost circular shaped craters, which contain liquid mud. Gases rising to the surface shake the mud, making it appear to be boiling.

The Mud Volcanoes of Pâclele Mari are located in the central part of the Berca Depression on an arid plateau, circular in shape, where there are numerous active devices of 2-3 m and fossils of 6-8 m, developed on an area of 22 ha. Volcanic mud, which shows traces of oil, predominates here.

The muddy volcanoes of Păclele Mici are slightly smaller in height and number, except for the central part of the plateau, where there is a tall and prominent cone, which has two large active craters at the top.

In Beciu, the volcanoes are located on a small area, near the Beciu-Arbanași road, their activity mainly consisting of boilers.

Mud volcanoes are the most representative volcanoes of this type in the country by their activity and their forms and were declared a natural monument in 1924.

A local legend tells how muddy volcanoes were formed. According to her, the hero Arbănaș starts the fight against a dragon that was destroying the earth. Frightened by the courage of the hero and wounded in the battle with him, the Dragon retreats to his hiding place in Berca and remains there forever. No one knows what happened to Arbănaș, but it is said that the dry, cracked earth would be the Dragon’s skin, and through the constantly bubbling eyes, the blood of the beast would rise to the surface.

Does the landscape of muddy volcanoes constantly change due to how much mud reaches the surface and where eruptions take place?
The Berca Muddy Volcanoes are the second largest in Europe after the Apseron-Baku Peninsula in Russia
Shrike (Nitraria Shoberi) is a rare plant, a monument of nature, found only in the region of mud volcanoes, Siberia and Australia? Thus, Berca is the westernmost point of its global area.

Useful information:

The Muddy Volcanoes Reserve is open for visits every day and at the following times: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in summer, respectively 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter.
Please note that the Muddy Volcanoes Nature Reserve is closed and cannot be visited on rainy days.
The visit fee is 4 lei for adults, 2 lei for students and 1 lei for students.
Pets are not allowed on the reservation.
The entrance to the reserve has an access ramp for the disabled.
For more information, you can contact Mr. Dumitru Roșu, the guardian of the Muddy Volcanoes Protected Natural Area, at the telephone number: +40 722 623 021.

Would you like to see more specificities of Romania? Discover Bran Fortress by clicking here.

More images of mud volcanoes by clicking here.