Bucium is a commune of scattered hamlets in the Golden Quadrilateral, the old gold-mining heart of the Apuseni, and the land around it has been dug, tunnelled and washed for metal for at least two thousand years. The villages cling to the slopes of deep valleys above Abrud, with small farms, orchards and haystacks among the forests, and the population has thinned out over the decades as the mines closed and younger people left. It is a quiet, rural corner, more remote in feel than its distance from the main road suggests.
The great natural sight here is the Detunata. Two volcanic hills rise above the commune, and on one of them, the Detunata Goală, the bare rock is made of basalt columns, long hexagonal pillars standing side by side like organ pipes, formed when lava cooled slowly millions of years ago. It is one of the best examples of columnar basalt in Romania, and a walk up from the road takes about an hour. The other hill, the Detunata Flocoasă, is covered in forest. From the top of either, you can see across the whole of the gold country.
The history of mining is everywhere. The Romans came to Dacia largely for the gold, and they worked the hills around Bucium and nearby Roșia Montană with galleries, water channels and wax tablets that recorded contracts and debts. Later the Habsburgs and then the Romanian state continued the mining, and the hills are still dotted with old shafts, ponds and tailings. Nearby Roșia Montană was the focus of a long fight in the 2000s and 2010s over a planned open-pit gold mine, which was eventually stopped, and the Roman galleries there are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Riding to Bucium means leaving the main road and climbing narrow, twisting lanes that are steep, sometimes broken and occasionally gravel. Traffic is very light, apart from local drivers and the occasional tractor, but the roads require attention, especially in the wet. The views are wide and the scenery is lovely, with meadows, forests and the volcanic hills.
Bucium has very few services: perhaps a small shop, and a guesthouse or two. For fuel, food and other needs, head to Abrud, about thirteen kilometres away, which is the nearest town with stations and supermarkets. Carry water and some food if you plan to walk up the Detunata.