Located in the heart of Transylvania, and rather close to Cluj-Napoca, old university center, the area from the Apuseni Mountains presently included in the Apuseni Nature Park has been visited and studied since the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The oldest tourist trails in the area, dating from the 1900's, were described and marked by Czárán Gyula, a tireless traveler in the Apuseni.

The first initiatives to establish a park in this area belong to the scientist Emil Racoviţă, who at the first Congress of the Romanian Naturalists in 1928 has clearly formulated the purpose and the objectives of a large protected area in the Apuseni Mountains. In the '50s, following important discoveries in endokarst exploration, new steps in this direction were taken by Marcian Bleahu.

Other scientific (but not only) personalities, who, by their studies and efforts in the field of nature protection, linked their name with the Apuseni Mountains area are Zeno Oarcea, Iosif Viehmann, Anna Marossy, Valeriu Puşcariu and Nicolae Boşcaiu, Cristian Pop and many others.

The first scientific documentation regarding the park establishment was prepared in the '70s, and was accompanied by a first map of the proposed limits. The fact that this is one of the last European naturally forested karst of large size was taken into account.

The first official act through which the "Apuseni National Park" was declared was the Ministry Order 7/1990, followed after ten years by Law 5/2000 regarding the territorial planning, Section III - Protected areas, where it is mentioned as the "Apuseni Mountain Nature Park".

In 1992, the Institute of Biological Research in Cluj-Napoca realized a "Substantiation study regarding the organization of a network of protected areas in Romania", which was the basis for the final decision to establish the park.

By the Government Decision 230/2003, the limits of the Apuseni Nature Park were established, resulting a surface of 75.784 ha. In 2004, the Administration of the park was formed, as a subunit of the National Forest Authority - Romsilva, Oradea Forestry Directorate, by the signing of an administration contract between the NFA-Romsilva and the Ministry of Environment and Water Management.The Apuseni Nature Park is situated in Western Romania, in the Central-North-Western side of the Apuseni Mountains, comprising a part of the Bihor massif at South and Vlădeasa massif at North, on the administrative territory of three counties (Cluj 40%, Bihor 32%, Alba 28%).

The ANP land constitues the administrative territory of 16 communes and the property of 25 communes. In what concerns the communities, inside ANP there are 53 settlements and 3 holiday villages and resorts (Boga, Fântânele and Vârtop), while another 8 settlements are situated on the park's limits.The Apuseni Nature Park has been chosen as the Romanian destination of excellence of the year 2009 within the EDEN - European Destinations of Excellence program.

For more information please go to:

http://www.parcapuseni.ro