Drumul Maramureșului: Baia Mare to Târgu Lăpuș · Stage 2
Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
Legs 2 and 3 in one stage, Blidari to Săpânța: 20 km and 29 km, a day each, the association says (49 km); 47.2 km on our line, about 12 hours of walking with more than 1,100 m of climb, most of it high on the hills. Leg 2 ends at Poiana lui Dumitru, a place OpenStreetMap does not map, so we cannot cut the stage there, and we could not place a stay on the way. Plan two days with a tent (the association's guide says wild camping is allowed along the route), or one very long day.
Best season: May to October. The association gives no season. Its travel guide asks walkers to check the weather and walk in daylight. May to October is the best time in our weather record (below); snow is likely from December to February, above all on stages 2 and 23 over the hills. The Mocănița steam train at Vișeu de Sus runs daily from April to October in 2026. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
Leg 1 ends at Lac Firiza and Blidari, by the Firiza reservoir. We could not place a stay here from the association's list of partner stays: ask in the village, or camp (the association's guide says wild camping is allowed along the route). The next stage is the longest of the trail: about 47 km over the hills to Săpânța.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Town
The end of leg 3, in the village of Săpânța near the Tisa. We could not place a stay here from the association's list of partner stays: ask in the village, or camp (the association's guide says wild camping is allowed along the route).
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Asociația Origini Maramureș: leg 2, 20 km and a day; leg 3, 29 km and a day (49 km in all); it publishes no walking time, climb or descent for any leg. drumulmaramuresului.ro, read 13 October 2026
Make it your trip
There is no central booking. The association lists 42 partner stays (guesthouses, rooms in village houses, chalets and campsites), each booked by phone with the host; the number is on the stay's page on the association's site. Many stage ends have no stay we could place on the map: ask a host before you go, or carry a tent. The association's guide says wild camping is allowed along the route; we have not checked the rules inside the natural parks.
The association's legs 1 to 29 in 20 walking days, the half-day legs joined.
Plan this journeyOver the hills to Săpânța, along the Tisa and up the Vișeu valley, in 7 days.
Plan this journeyVillage to village by Săcel, Botiza, Bârsana and Breb, then over the mountains to Târgu Lăpuș, in 13 days.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (264 m) and high point (1,078 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (264 m) and the highest point (1,078 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor |
| High point, day / night | -1°/-8° | 0°/-7° | 4°/-5° | 10°/0° | 15°/4° | 18°/8° | 20°/10° | 20°/10° | 15°/6° | 11°/2° | 6°/-2° | 0°/-6° |
| Low point, day / night | 2°/-5° | 4°/-4° | 10°/0° | 17°/5° | 21°/9° | 25°/12° | 26°/14° | 27°/13° | 21°/9° | 16°/5° | 9°/1° | 3°/-3° |
| Rain, mm | 63 | 70 | 79 | 67 | 104 | 115 | 119 | 92 | 81 | 80 | 79 | 77 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Likely | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | Frost | Possible | Likely |
| Daylight | 8 h 48 | 10 h 13 | 11 h 48 | 13 h 35 | 15 h 07 | 16 h | 15 h 41 | 14 h 22 | 12 h 40 | 10 h 57 | 9 h 19 | 8 h 25 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
This guide covers the association's legs 1 to 29 of 41, Baia Mare to Târgu Lăpuș: 524 km on its figures, 452.4 km on our line, which runs about 14 % shorter throughout. Legs 30 to 41, back to Baia Mare by Rohia, Coaș and Chechiș, and the variants by Seini and round Borșa are not here. The association publishes a length and a day or half a day for each leg, but no hours (the association's route list, read 13 October 2026).
Asociația Origini Maramureș: the legs (Romanian)The association lists 42 partner stays round the loop, booked by phone with each host. We placed seven of them on this part of the trail: by Petrova, in Vișeu de Sus, Bârsana, Mara and Breb, and Cabana GEO on stage 23. Elsewhere, ask in the village or camp: the association's guide says wild camping is allowed along the route (the association's partner list, read 13 October 2026).
Asociația Origini Maramureș: partner stays (Romanian)Stage 2, Blidari to Săpânța, is two legs (20 and 29 km) in one: about 47 km on our line, most of it high on the hills, with no stay we could place. Stage 23, Budești to Ungureni, is legs 24 and 25 (23 and 24 km): about 49 km over the Rotunda pass. Cabana GEO, about 20 km in, splits it; Cavnic, where leg 24 ends, is 2.9 km off our line (the association's route list, read 13 October 2026).
Asociația Origini Maramureș: Cavnic to Ungureni (Romanian)The trail is waymarked with a blue "M" or a red winding road. The association's guide says to look for a mark every 200 to 300 m (the association's travel guide, read 13 October 2026).
Asociația Origini Maramureș: travel guide (Romanian)On stages 3 to 6 the trail runs near the Tisa, which is the border with Ukraine. Stations and halts on the far bank are in Ukraine and are not a way in or out. We could not confirm on an official page what the Border Police ask of walkers near the border, here or in the Vaser valley: ask locally.
Asociația Origini Maramureș: travel guide (Romanian)Stage 10 ends by the station of the Mocănița, the narrow-gauge steam train up the Vaser valley to Paltin. It is an out-and-back tourist trip, not transport along the trail. In 2026 it runs daily from April to October, Thursday to Sunday in January, February, November and December, and Friday to Sunday in March (the operator's 2026 timetable, read 13 October 2026).
Mocănița Maramureșului: timetableThe association has no news or closures page; we watch its route list and partner list for changes. Salvamont Maramureș is the county's mountain rescue service; in an emergency call 112 (Salvamont Maramureș announcements, checked 13 October 2026).
Salvamont Maramureș: announcements (Romanian)Getting there
Travel around Blidari to Săpânța.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
CFR Călători, the national rail operator, runs trains to Baia Mare; its pages show the times after a search. The trail starts near the Stadion bus stop; the association's tourism office is on Piața Libertății in the centre.
CFR Călători: Baia Mare to Sighetu MarmațieiSighetu Marmației, at the end of stage 4, has a railway station; check CFR's timetable on the day. We found no official timetable for local buses between the villages: ask your host.
Infofer: Sighetu Marmației stationThis guide ends in Târgu Lăpuș. We found no official bus or train timetable from the town: ask your host how to get back to Baia Mare, or walk on along the association's legs 30 to 41, which are not on our line.
Asociația Origini Maramureș: the legs (Romanian)Take your trip with you
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection: on the hills of stages 2 and 23 and in the side valleys the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
Asociația Origini Maramureș publishes the Drumul Maramureșului as a loop of 41 numbered legs, 702 km from Baia Mare and back ("over 700 km", its site says), plus two variants: 1.1, Seini to Țara Codrului (170 km), and 13.1, round Borșa (80 km). Each leg has a length and a duration of a day or half a day; the association publishes no stage times, and no climb or descent. This guide covers legs 1 to 29, from Baia Mare to Târgu Lăpuș: 524 km on the association's figures. Legs 30 to 41, from Târgu Lăpuș by Rohia, Coaș, Chechiș and Șișești back to Baia Mare, and both variants are not on our line. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 13075143, from the planet of 11 October 2026), walked in the association's order: 452.4 km, cut at its leg ends into 27 stages. Our line runs about 14 % shorter than the association's figures throughout, so each stage gives both. Two stages join two legs each, because a leg end is missing from our line: stage 2 is legs 2 and 3 (the association's Poiana lui Dumitru, where leg 2 ends, is not on OpenStreetMap), and stage 23 is legs 24 and 25 (the mapped route crosses the Rotunda pass and passes 2.9 km from Cavnic, where leg 24 ends). At Săcel, 149 m of the DN17C are not part of the mapped route: our routing joins them there. Several stages end outside the village centre; each stage and stop says by how much. Times are measured on our line, and our climb on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Asociația Origini Maramureș: Drumul Maramureșului legsMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation