The wild DJ685 Road

DJ685 is a 54km long paved road in Hunedoara county, Romania. The drive is pretty challenging.

DJ685

Nestled in the Southern Carpathians range within the Retezat National Park, the road is mostly unpaved. It starts paved from Cârneşti, but suddenly turns into gravel on the Gura Apelor lake, at an elevation of 1.000 m above the sea level. The road ends on Poiana Pelegii at 1.599m asl. Although the parking at Poiana Pelegii is big, it can be quite crowded during weekends.

Heavy or prolonged rain can cause local flash floods that cover the road with water or wash out culverts or bridges. The last part of the road is paved with little rocks. It’s not very nice to the car, but you won’t need a 4 x 4 to get there. If you think about renting a car, ask for the insurance to cover dirt roads which are out of the national roads system. Some insurance companies make you pay additionally for that, so it’s possible that car rental companies don’t ask for that to be covered.