Diana spring

The Şuşara Stream is found on the road to the Şuşara Waterfall, on which road we also meet the Former Turkish Mill. All these natural attractions are located in the town of Sasca Montană, being a special area for any hiker looking for peace and natural landscapes. source

The oldest hydrotechnical facilities and the first gravity dams in Romania built for washing ores on the Oravița stream, known as Lacul Mare and Lacul Mic. Among the anthropogenic lakes of the Banatul Montan, the two lakes from Oraviţa stand out. They were arranged and consolidated through special hydrotechnical works, on the middle course of the Oraviţa Valley, in the interval 1727-1733, being provided with dams to mitigate the flood wave but also to serve the newly created industries or for the leisure of the inhabitants. Text & Photo Source: banatulmontan, oravita.ro

Ponor Cave – Dry is also known as Ponor Cave, Crivina Cave or Brădețe Cave. Proceeding into the cave and passing a strait, the gallery rises to 15 m. The temperature in the cave is 6.5°C – 8.3°C at the extremities and it is humid (95-100%). These temperature variations are due to openings, which allow air currents to enter. text source:  cnitpanina.ro photo source: speologie.org, pressalert.ro

The Bats Cave is located on Cheile Carasului, near Carașova commune. Access to the cave is through a hole with a diameter of approximately 10 meters, it is necessary to cross the Caraș river by water and climb a rock wall of approximately 4-5 meters. For amateur climbers, access to the cave can also be done by descending from above the cave. source

The cave is found at the base of a limestone cliff and has a large entrance and a length of 108 m. It consists of three Halls. At the entrance you can still see traces of archaeological excavations and treasure hunters. In the first room, the large blocks collapsed from the ceiling must be climbed. To the right is a short gallery that opens above the chasm. On the left, after a slight slope, you enter the second room, then the third, where concretionary ornaments are found. The cave is easily accessible and visible, especially in the first room, the others are much darker and specific equipment is necessary. Text & Photo Source: https://www.turistmania.ro/

Located on the edge of the forest, Poiana Golului is an exceptional viewpoint over the city of Resita, but also a place where festivals and shows are organized for those interested in a unique experience at a higher plane.

Located on a deep and hard-to-reach valley between Coronini and the Czech village of Sfânta Elena, Izvorul Mânzului is one of the most special places in the Danube Gorge. The area is dotted with waterfalls and grottoes, small waterholes or natural stone constructions and populated by salamanders that, according to the stories of the elders, if they cry, they will deafen you. Also here, under Isânoca hill, it seems that there is a dragon's lair that has been sleeping for millennia and that, moving during sleep, always changes the shape of the hill. Text & photo source

The entrance to Boilor Cave is located on the left slope of the Nera Gorges, formed by Carsiile Dese, at an altitude of 210 meters and 7 meters above the river. The cave measures 126 meters and is carved on a system of joints and pressure tunnels. Descending sections alternate with ascending ones. The entrance, quite large (4 meters in height), leads through a small corridor into a high hall of 7 meters, illuminated through a crack in the wall (the Window) with a diameter of 2 meters. This hall communicates with the main gallery through a labyrinth of narrow, partly inaccessible corridors, which are reached by climbing a 3-meter threshold. The main gallery, generally narrow, 2-4 meters high, and without branches, presents along its course enlargements through collapses, natural bridges, erosion rings, pressure tunnels with oval section, and siphon arrangements. Otherwise, the gallery, constantly turning to the right, becomes narrow and wide; it suddenly descends 3 meters and ends with a permanent siphon lake. During strong floods, water infiltrated through cracks in the massif forms an underground stream that appears through the siphon lake and is evacuated through sinkholes and swallow holes in the floor, only occasionally managing to exit through the cave's mouth and reach the Nera River. Traces of water are visible everywhere: potholes, lapies, blades, hieroglyphs, and spoon formations. Here and there, the beginning of cave concretion can be observed. The cave is of interest not only for karst hydrology but also for biospeleology. Remarkable terrestrial species of crustaceans, pseudoscorpions, and wingless insects live here, and in the marmites and siphon lake, typically subterranean species of microscopic crustaceans. The cave is located within the protected area of the Nera-Beușnița Gorges Reserve, part of the national park with the same name. It is not developed and does not show signs of degradation. Although it is a cold cave, with small puddles, walls carved by water, and lacking the calcite beauties that usually attract tourists, being near the trail, it should not be bypassed. Equipped with a flashlight (temperature around 10 degrees Celsius and maximum humidity), a protective helmet, and rubber boots (after prolonged drought, hiking boots also work), the entire cave can be traversed round trip in just half an hour. Pay attention to the two 3-meter thresholds. Source

If Cheile Carașului is among the promoted and well-known attractions in Banat, it must be mentioned that the place where the Caraș River originates, forming these gorges, is also extremely spectacular but not as well-known, not as promoted, and certainly not visited as much by tourists. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that access requires covering a longer distance on foot, and on the other hand, because it is not among the most promoted tourist attractions in the Banat Mountains. The place where the Caraș River originates is called Izbucul Carașului, and this is due to the fact that in karst regions, most springs are called "izbuc" due to the different way in which underground water reaches the surface. Izbucul Carașului is located in the middle of the forest, and there are several hiking trail options to reach it. The first and perhaps the most commonly used marked tourist route is the one that starts from Lake Buhui. To reach this lake, there is a trail option starting from the town of Anina, either from the Sigismund district near the cemetery or from the Orașul Nou district. Follow the blue stripe marking (from the Sigismund district – Maial, the trail also intersects with the yellow stripe marking indicating the European trail E3 coming from Ochiul Bei, in Valea Beului), and once you reach Lake Buhui, you will notice signs with a yellow triangle marking towards Izbucul Carașului (Izvoarele Carașului). While some time ago, the trail to Izbucul Carașului had no tourist marking, only a path beaten through the forest, now access to this very beautiful and extremely interesting place in the middle of the forest is much easier with the help of the yellow triangle marking. This trail to Izbucul Carașului reaches the area of Cantonul Silvic Cârneală following the forest road, and from here, it descends to Izbucul Carașului through a path in the forest. The path crosses an extremely wild forest, where human intervention is almost imperceptible, especially if you follow this trail in the spring or summer months after the vegetation has grown considerably. Being a karstic area, most of the time, Izbucul (or the spring) Carașului does not have water right at the surface water outlet, so the underground water emerges a few meters downstream from the small opening of the spring. Therefore, to catch as much water as possible at Izbucul Carașului right in the area where it springs, it is recommended to come here in the early spring months and after heavy rains. It should be noted that even if you choose a hike to Izbucul Carașului in the summer months or after periods of low precipitation, you will find water a little downstream from the spring, where due to the high calcium and other mineral content, you will notice a series of micro-dams formed from travertine, giving a special appearance to this area, similar to the travertine thresholds formed on the waterfalls on the Beușnița Valley. The duration of the hike to Izbucul Carașului depends on the starting point and the walking pace. From Lake Buhui to the spring, the estimated time is about 2 hours, and if you choose to start from Șaua Cuptoare, the estimated time for the last hike I chose this trail was about 2.5-3 hours, depending on the walking pace. Text & foto source