atractii

  De treci din Gorj în Mehedinţi, pe Baia de Aramã, ajungi la podul lui Dumnezeu, un pod natural din stâncã, unic în lume prin faptul cã e circulat, iar aici, ca în poveşti, se pare cã binele învinge rãul. Se spune cã pe aceste meleaguri sãlãşluieşte Dracu, iar el face ca maşinile ce trec pe pod sã rãmânã fãrã frâne şi sã cadã în prãpastie. Doar cã Dumnezeu nu-l lasã sã-şi facã mendrele şi, chiar dacã s-au produs accidente în acest fel, maşinile s-au fãcut praf, dar oamenii au rãmas nevãtãmaţi.

God's Bridge, one of the world's three largest natural bridges located near the Ponoarele community, the only such beauties effectively used for traffic. Photos:Andra Raica

The Natural Bridge is located at the top of Southside Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley of the state’s western Appalachian Mountains, what geologists call the Valley and Ridge Province. The parallel folds of mountains and valleys all run in a northeast-southwest direction. This valley and its rivers and streams have served as a natural migration route, first for wildlife, including probably small herds of eastern bison and elk, then for the Amer-Indians who lived and hunted in and moved through the area, and still later as the natural gateway for pioneers from the mid-Atlantic and Northeast across the Appalachians and into the western Carolinas and Kentucky and Tennessee.Photos: Google

Ponoarele is not very far north of the small town of Baia de Arama, and also is close to the Motru Valley, in the north part of Oltenia county, towards the Parang Mountains.

Coming from north to south, a small river enters a huge valley to meeta a huge stone hill, like a dam, which bars its way.

When there is a lot of water in the river, in spring or in very wet weather, this huge valley is full of water, and is called the Zătonul Mare lake. The rest of the time, when it is hot and there is little water in the river, the lake disappears, because at the base of the huge stone dam is a small hole through which the river passes under the stone hill, and makes a double cave, then goes out to the south of the stone hill to form a small lake called Zătonul Mic. This second lake also has two levels of water, just as Zătonul Mare has, because it too goes under another stone hill, via an undiscovered cave.

The entire area of Ponoarele is full of rivers and caves.

The huge stone hill between Zătonul Mare and Zătonul Mic has a double cave with an entrance from the north, from Zătonul Mare lake, with an exit to Zătonul Mic lake. However at the exit from the south of the cave, part of the roof of the cave has fallen in, leaving an arch called God's Bridge, or Podul Lui Dumnezeu in Romanian.

Comuna Ponoarele, judetul Mehedinti, este singura asezare din lume in care localnicii construiesc o biserica pentru a putea anula un blestem. La 1370, calugarul Nicodim a aruncat imprecatia: in apele din zona sa nu mai fie nici o vietate. Si asa a ramas pana in ziua de azi - in apele lor nu traieste nimic, nici macar o broasca. Biserica este asezata chiar langa singurul pasaj rutier natural din lume: Podul lui Dumnezeu

Drumul care leaga Baia de Arama de Turnu Severin trece peste o prapastie, in localitatea Ponoarele,

Localizare si cale de acces. 
Pestera Bulba se afla in apropiere de localitatea Baia de Arama pe drumul spre Ponoarele.

Descriere.
  Este o pestera mare ( 4 km) avand 2 etaje, unul activ si unul fosil remarcat in literatura de specialitate pentru diversitatea si frumusetea speleotemelor, mai ales a draperiilor (sau voaluri) printre cele mai frumoase din tara.