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OPENHARD

Carpathians – Wolf Country

Romania · Piatra Craiului & Făgăraș foothills, Zărnești

Europe

Duration

7 days

Price per person

$2,400 / pers.

Intensity

Hard

Sessions

1 date

Departure Dates

Feb 5 – Feb 11, 2027OPEN8 spots

Overview

7-day winter tracking expedition through the forested foothills of the southern Carpathians, home to one of Europe's largest surviving wolf populations. Based out of Zărnești, the mission is to locate the territorial boundaries of two known packs, read tracks, scat, and scent-marking posts in fresh snow, and set up trail cameras along the game corridors linking the Piatra Craiului and Făgăraș massifs. Days are spent moving quietly through beech and spruce forest on snowshoes, checking camera traps placed on prior visits, and building a picture of pack movement from sign alone, no baiting, no playback calls. Evenings are spent in a mountain guesthouse reviewing the day's camera trap footage and GPS tracks. Led by Andrei Comșa, a Romanian wildlife biologist and field tracker with 15 years documenting wolf, lynx, and brown bear movement in this range, and a long-standing field contact of the local carnivore monitoring network.

The Quest

Romania holds more wild wolves than almost anywhere else in Europe, and almost none of them are ever seen. What you can see, if you know how to look, is everything they leave behind: a print pressed into fresh snow before the wind fills it in, a scent post scratched into the base of a fir tree, a deer carcass picked over and abandoned in a streambed. Andrei Comșa has spent fifteen winters reading exactly this kind of evidence, and for a week you'll learn to read it with him.

This isn't a hide-and-wait wildlife watch. You'll be moving on snowshoes for hours at a stretch, checking trail cameras placed weeks earlier, cross-referencing fresh sign against known territory maps, and helping decide where the pack has likely moved next. The forest is cold, the pace is real, and a sighting is never promised. What is certain is that you'll leave understanding a landscape most visitors only drive past, and knowing exactly what a healthy wolf population's fingerprint looks like on snow.

Day by Day

Day 1

Arrival in Brașov & Transfer to Zărnești

Airport pickup in Brașov and transfer to the mountain guesthouse in Zărnești, gateway to the Piatra Craiului range. Evening mission briefing with Andrei Comșa and gear check for snowshoes and cold-weather layers.

Day 2

Tracking Fundamentals & First Sign

Field session on identifying wolf, lynx, and fox tracks in snow, followed by a first outing along known travel corridors on the valley floor to find fresh sign and place the trip's first trail cameras.

Day 3

Piatra Craiului Foothills

Full day snowshoeing the forested foothills of Piatra Craiului, checking trail cameras placed on prior surveys and mapping territorial scent-marking posts found along the route.

Day 4

Reading a Kill Site

Investigation of a recent predation site reported by local shepherds, assessing species, timing, and pack size from remains and surrounding tracks. Afternoon camera trap retrieval and footage review.

Day 5

Făgăraș Corridor

Move to the wildlife corridor linking Piatra Craiului to the Făgăraș range, historically used by dispersing wolves, and a full day of sign-based survey along the connecting ridgeline.

Day 6

Final Push & Camera Retrieval

Return to the two most active camera sites for final footage retrieval and a last full day tracking, followed by an evening review of the week's complete sign map with Andrei.

Day 7

Departure

Transfer to Brașov airport for the return flight. End of expedition.

Included

  • Full-board accommodation (shared double room) in a Zărnești mountain guesthouse, Day 1 to Day 7
  • Lead field biologist Andrei Comșa for the full expedition
  • Snowshoes, trail cameras, and GPS tracking equipment
  • Private ground transport for the 8-person group, Day 1 to Day 7
  • All local carnivore monitoring network access and field permits

Not Included

  • International flights to Brașov / Bucharest
  • Travel insurance
  • Personal cold-weather gear and telephoto camera equipment

Frequently Asked Questions

Application Required

Participation is subject to review. Selection is confirmed after internal validation.

Select a departure date above to apply or join the waitlist.