The Meseș mountains are not high, but they once marked the edge of an empire. In the early second century the Romans conquered Dacia and built a line of defences along the ridge, with a chain of watchtowers, small forts and earthworks, to guard the north-western frontier of the new province. The big fortress at Porolissum, at Moigrad, was the headquarters, and in between were dozens of small posts on hilltops, each in sight of the next. Brebi, a village in Sălaj county, lies on this frontier, and Dealul Mare, the Big Hill, is the kind of name given to the high ground where such a tower would stand.
The sites are not marked like a theme park, and part of the appeal is finding them by following local signs and asking shepherds.
The villages around, Mirșid and Creaca among them, are old Transylvanian places of a mixed Romanian and Hungarian heritage, with small churches, orchards, and farms with big wooden gates. Mirșid has a couple of thousand people and Creaca about three thousand, so you will find a shop, a bar and maybe a pump, but the bigger town of Zalău, not far to the south, is the sure place for fuel and a decent meal.
The roads here are among the quietest in the country. They roll over wooded ridges and open meadows, with broad bends and views that open over valleys, and traffic is mostly tractors and the odd cart. The asphalt can be patchy, with potholes, frost damage and occasional gravel, so keep an eye on the surface and an ear out for dogs. Spring is bright with fruit blossom, summer is warm with haymaking, and autumn burns gold in the beech woods. Evenings are cool, even in July, so bring a layer, and plan lunch around a village inn where soup and bread cost very little.