Transalpina is the highest road in Romania as well as in the whole chain of the Carpathian Mountains, both in the country and outside of it, reaching the maximum altitude (2145 m) in the Urdele Pass. The Transalpina crosses the Parang Mountains from N to S, being parallel to the Oltului Valley and the Jiului Valley, between which it is located, and connects the town of Saliste in Sibiu county with Novaci in Gorj county. The road took its name from the Latin "Transalpina" (country beyond the mountains), as it was called in the old Latin texts and maps the Romanian Country, and is nicknamed "The King's Road", because King Carol II, after who rebuilt it, in 1935, inaugurated it by going through it himself together with the royal family. Although it is higher, much older and more beautiful than Transfagarasan, it is less known because Transalpina, although it is classified as a national road, DN 67c (partially), was never asphalted until 2009.
Transalpina was built by the Romanian armies on their way to Sarmisegetusa, paved with stone by King Carol II after 1930 and restored by the Germans in World War II, after which it was forgotten by the Romanian authorities. The fact that it was forgotten and became a difficult road to travel with normal cars helped Transalpina to keep untouched its wildness and special charm that few places in the country still have. It is among the few roads in the country where you can drive up to the clouds and even above them.
Transalpina never had a fixed opening or closing schedule, everything depending on the arrival of snow and its melting. On the Obarsia Lotrului - Ranca section, snow usually persists from November to June.
