The „12 apostoli” Bucovina geological reservation (at 14km from Vatra Dornei, at the North-West depression of Calimani Mountains) represents a group of rocks of 8-12m height, a real gallery of ,,figures”. The ridge that forms the yoke of the waters in the basins of the brooks Neagra Sarului and Poiana Negri and descends from Calimani over Tamau and Pietrele Rosii crests to Lucaciu peak and the town of Vatra Dornei harbours many zoo and anthropomorphic figures, ,,sculpted” by the wind, especially interesting, made of cemented lava fragments.
The strange forms were called, for instance ,,the Dragons”, ,,The Fortress”, or the “12 Apostles”. The names come from the idea that there are 12 rocks with human shapes. The Old man draws the attention, which has more ,,faces” oriented to the 3 paths that bring to him: a wide short head face to the East, a small head with narrow forehead and sharp beard to the North and a more elongated face, narrow, of dolichocephalic type, to the South.
The geological reservation “Poiana Tibaului” situated at the confluence of Tibaului Valley with Bistrita Aurie Valley, is formed of abrupt walls of about 75 m height, with heavy aspect, which gives a special charm to the landscape.
The geological reservation “Piatra Pinului si Piatra Soimului” (on the right of Moldova river) represents an extremely important ecosystem from the paleontological point of view, with numerous remains of fossil fish which demonstrate the existence of a specific fauna: fish, corals, shells, etc. The reservation is partially covered by sylvan pine, fir, spruce, beech, etc. Piatra Soimului, that is situated of few hundreds meters up from Piatra Pinului, is visited for the forest rocks’ picturesque.
