Hoia Baciu — The Haunted Forest of Transylvania

This haunted forest known to be the Bermuda Triangle of Romania with its eerily coiled trees and whispers of local legends reminds us all that Transylvania is not only haunted by the legend of Dracula and vampires. Take a walk in the Hoia Baciu.

Romania has a rich history of the unexplained and lores and legends that will creep into the bones of those listening. This forest is clouded in mystery and is no exception. Strange orbs of lights coming from inside the treeline have been spotted, but never explained, a possible gateway to another dimension draws desperate people to try for themselves.

Have a look at all our stories about haunted forests in the MoonMausoleum: Here

The forest has always had a paranormal undertone whispering in the wind, but modern lore of being a hotspot for UFOs, missing time and has started to take hold as well, giving it the nickname the Bermuda Triangle of Romania. The mysterious forest of Hoia Baciu has many haunted legends lingering among the trees.

The Haunted Forest for Ufology

UFO? — **UFO**: This picture is one of the pictures Emil Barnea took of the sky above the forest, now believed to be of more strange origin.

There is not only those close to the forest, superstitious people or those seeking ghosts that claim there is something going on in the forest. Even in academic circles there are those who were intrigued by the strange place and even some selected professors at the university in the city claim this particular forest is a place where paranormal activity happens, and in the modern world filled with strange disappearance legends, tales of aliens and UFO’s has started becoming a part of the lore.

In the late 60’s a biologist named Alexandru Sift came back with pictures from the forest that he claimed were flying UFO’s in the sky over the twisted trees. He wandered into the forest to have a closer look at the strange vegetation that can be found in there as part of his research.

These pictures of the alleged UFO’s were published by his chemist friend side by side with theories about the paranormal stuff happening in the old forest right outside the city. And what he found and reported off gave more people interested in both the paranormal legend and in outer space the urge to see for themselves what all the strangeness was.

The same claim about seeing an UFO came from a military technician named Emil Barnea in 1968 after he took some pictures in the western part of the forest while he was camping. Both of these cases with what seemingly looked like picture evidence helped to give the forest a sense of notoriety more than a local place filled with local legends.

But when first starting to look into the local lore of the place since the first trees started growing there, strange occurrences had been reported long before the 60’s and people started talking about UFOs.

The Bermuda Triangle of Romania

Located near the Cluj-Napoca city in northwestern part of Romania, an old forest still stands only half an hour away from the city by car. It is in Transylvania and for many it is expected that a haunted forest should be placed right here. Although the city is free from the Dracula tales of Bran Castle and the tourist attractions one might find in a lot of towns capitalizing on the vampiric lore of the country. But there is a certain eeriness to the trees bending in twisted ways with skeleton-like branches reaching out for the hikers.

We are away from the bustling modern everyday life from the city and here in Hoia Baciu, the only thing to hear is the falling leaves, whispering as they reach the ground, and the sounds of deers, walking among the trees. Some might say Hoia Baciu is much more scary than Dracula himself.

Yep... Nothing to see here. Photo / hoiabaciuforest.com — **Strange Lights:** Another one of the pictures taken by Barnea in the 60’s showcasing strange lights that has been told legends about in Hoia Baciu throughout the years.

When saying the forest is an old one, it truly is. As in 55 000 year old. And with such old places like the mysterious Hoia Baciu, there comes old stories that no one really know when started or came from. Farmers in the valley claim the forest is haunted to this day, and especially stories about strange disappearances there are plenty of. That is also why the Hoia Baciu forest is also sometimes referred to as: “The Bermuda Triangle of Romania.”

The Disappearing People

One of these disappearance stories from Hoia Baciu tells of a shepherd that vanished with more than 200 of his sheep without a trace, never to return. Odd considering the forest is not that big compared to other places. And in some sources it is after him that the forest is named Hoia Baciu. The locals are at times afraid to enter the forest because of tales like this that have been handed down for generations. The once brave enough to venture in have also complained about feeling nauseous, itching as well as getting migraines when they are brave enough to enter.

Perhaps the most famous tale from this forest is of the 5 year old girl that wandered into the forest one day and got lost and disappeared from the face of the earth, at least for the rest of the world. Years passed and after five years of being missing she came back out from Hoia Baciu, supposedly in the same clothes she wore on the day of her disappearance, not looking a day older. When asked where she had been, she had no answers. She reappeared in the forest with no memories of where she had been and what happened to her, at least, she didn’t want to share it.

Many accounts claim there are many, perhaps as many as thousands of people that have disappeared in this Bermuda Triangle of Romania over the years. But of course, no hard evidence is found of these occurrences. Because they never happened, or merely because they happened so long ago that evidence of this is long gone?

The Poiana Rotunda

File:Poiana Rotunda (The Round Meadow), most haunted place in Hoia Baciu.jpg — **The Poiana Rotunda:** The clearing in the forest were most of the strange happenings is taking place giving the nickname Bermuda Triangle of Romania// **Photo**: Lajsikonik

Other paranormal legends tells of the ghosts of Romanian peasants that were murdered in the forest and is believed to still be trapped in the forest, unable to move on. They are sometimes seen wandering among the trees in Hoia Baciu, observing the people entering their final resting place.

Most of the paranormal reporting has now started centering around a supposed dead zone in the vegetation. This place is called Poiana Rotunda, west in the forest. A circle on the ground where no trees grow from the soil without an explanation.

In other words, something strange happened to this place, or maybe it has a more natural explanation that aliens and interdimensional travelling with missing children and shepherds. It could be more of a normal meadow caused by natural causes or illegal deforestation the forest is suffering from.

No matter what really lies inside the forest, of it really is haunted or some sort of Bermuda Triangle of Romania, it certainly pulls the strangest and darkest things out from people visiting. It is a perfect setting to put on a tv-show, sell books claiming all sorts of stuff.

Maple groves, gatherings of beech, ash and elm wrap around themselves, contorting to strange shapes that perhaps help the feeling of uneasiness and gives the forest an overall creep factor. Blocking out the sun, leaving us in a sort of eternal shadow below the trees, anything seems possible in Hoia Baciu.