Râpa Roșie is a protected area, a natural monument of national interest in Alba County, Romania. It is a geological and botanical reserve, located in the extreme southwest of the Secaşelor Plateau on the right bank of the Secașul Mare, about north of Sebeș. With a size of approximately 24 hectares, the reserve is classified as IUCN Category III. Erosion and runoff has given it a prominent, sharp rocky appearance in the mountainside. Râpa Roșie itself measures approximately 10 hectares in size. Râpa Roșie stretches over a length of. Its height measures between . A huge wall, almost vertical, gives the impression of a ruined ancestral monument. Tiered columns and pyramids, separated by ravines, form a badlands microrelief. The first report of a Coţofeni culture find at Râpa Roşie was made by Fr. W. Schuster in 1865. It was the first archaeological exploration made by him which revealed remnants of large and small pottery that had ornamentation, which also attested to the Coţofeni culture.
Geology
Râpa Roșie is a geological reserve and a natural monument with unusual red bed features. Assessing the geological age of the formations has been a daunting task as no fossil remains had been found in the past. The geological monument has been called a "natural wonder". Its walls rise to a height of 80-100m. Rock formations are naturally carved with very unusual shapes of columns, towers and pyramids formed over centuries of erosion by rainwater. Study of the feature has revealed geological formations of gravel, quartz sands, and sandstones. The deposits are distinct "succession of red clays, grey and reddish soap-stones, friable white soap-stone." They all exhibit a reddish colour. Deep ravines are formed and during the rainy season the water flowing in the deep ravines is in the colour of the formation that is red; as the water falls into the ravines it makes a roaring sound. Râpa Roșie River flows in the vicinity.
Flora
There are many rare and endemic plants in the area. The floral species reported from the park are Cotoneaster integerrimus, Ephedra distachya, Centaurea atropurpurea, Dianthus serotinus, Cephalaria radiate, and Asplenium nigrum. To evolve a management plan for the natural reserve, a study was carried out on the flora and faunal resources within the reserve area. Given this data, the details of flora reported are 144 plant species of 41 families. Of these, 8 are endangered species which are characteristic to the ecoregion of the xerophilousgrasslands and/or the Xerothermic subcontinental Oak forest, and are: Cephalaria radiate, Cephalaria uralensis, Onosma pseudoarenaria, Jurinea mollis ssp. , Salvia transsilvanica, Salvia nutans, Centaurea atropurpurea and Quercus pubescens. In addition to the above, some rare plant species reported are Cotoneaster integerrimus, Centaurea atropurpurea, Dianthus serotinus, Cephalaria radiata and ''Asplenium adiantum-nigrum.
Fauna
To draw up a management plan for the natural reserve, a study was carried out on the flora and faunal resources within the reserve area. ;Avifauna
investigations have been carried out at Râpa Roşie near Sebeş town, on the southwestern side of the Transylvanian Basin. The investigations were started in 1969. Dinosaur bones were reported in earlier investigations. Based on the investigations carried out by Codrea and Dica in 2005, they have assigned the age of these formations to the Early Miocene age formations in Romania, which could be stated as Magyarosaurus.
