Scărișoara Ice Cave

About Scărișoara Ice Cave

At 1,165 m, on the edge of the karst plateau by the village of Ghețari, the forest suddenly gives way to a round shaft 60 m across and almost 50 m deep. At its bottom a portal 24 m wide and 17 m high leads into a huge chamber whose floor is a block of ice rather than rock. Cold air sinks into the cave in winter and stays trapped there, so the ice does not melt even in midsummer.

The cave has been known since the mid-19th century and was studied by, among others, Emil Racoviță in the 1920s. It has been protected as a natural monument since 1938 and is part of Apuseni Natural Park. The ice block holds more than 100,000 cubic metres (a ground-penetrating radar survey in 2016 put it at over 120,000 m³; older measurements gave 75,000 m³), and recent drilling has dated the layers at its base to about 10,500 years, which makes it the oldest known underground glacier. From 2019 to 2021 the cave was closed while its access stairs were rebuilt. The current melt rate is the highest in the 100 years since research began: in a single year the ice surface can lose 20–25 cm, against an average of 2–3 cm a year over the previous two decades.

Information verified on 28 September 2026.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: from the DN 75 (Câmpeni – Arieșeni), in Gârda de Sus take the signposted paved road up to Ghețari, ~10 km of hairpins (~20 minutes), to the car park by the cave. From Câmpeni it is ~40 km (~1 hour), from Alba Iulia ~120 km (~2h45), from Cluj-Napoca ~160 km via Turda and Câmpeni (~3 hours), from Oradea ~140 km via Beiuș and the Vârtop pass (~3 hours). In winter the road to Ghețari can be snowbound: make sure the car is fitted for winter.

Public transport: there is no scheduled service to the cave. Minibuses along the DN 75 from Câmpeni reach Gârda de Sus; from there it is ~10 km uphill, on foot or with a lift arranged through the local guesthouses.

Where to park

Car park at the end of the paved road, from where it is a few minutes' walk, past houses and through the forest, to the mouth of the shaft. Recent accounts mention a small fee at the laid-out car park; on summer weekends it fills up by midday and people park along the road.

Fees & discounts

Gârda de Sus town hall does not publish current prices online. Accounts from recent years give different prices for an adult ticket, from ~11 lei (2024) to ~25 lei (2026), with reductions for pupils and students and free entry for young children; check at the ticket desk and bring cash, as card payment is not guaranteed.

Rules

Visits are only in groups accompanied by a cave guide. Do not step off the walkways or onto the ice: the block is a natural monument and under continuous study. The stairs in the shaft are steep and icy in the cold season; you need shoes with good grip and warm clothes even in summer. Professional filming and photography require the consent of the Apuseni Natural Park Administration.

Facilities

Ticket desk and toilets at the entrance · car park by the cave · guesthouses and places to eat in Ghețari and Gârda de Sus · the route has steep stairs and is not pushchair- or wheelchair-accessible · weak mobile signal in the shaft and the cave