Somewhere above the Someș valley, on a hill the villagers call Dealul Hanului, the inn hill, the Romans kept watch over the northern edge of their province of Dacia. After Trajan's conquest in 106, the new province had to be defended on all sides, and its northern frontier, in what the Romans called Dacia Porolissensis, ran through these hills between the Meseș mountains and the upper Someș. Forts, watchtowers and earthworks controlled the valleys, and Căpâlna, near the village of Gâlgău, is one of the many small sites that formed that network, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia that Romania has put forward for UNESCO listing.
Do not expect stone walls and reconstructed towers. Most sites like this are low earthworks, scatters of stones and traces in the fields that archaeologists can read but most riders will need to imagine. What you get instead is the view the Roman soldiers had: the broad, slow river winding through the valley, villages strung along the road, wooded ridges stretching away to the north toward Maramureș. Not far away, near Dej, lie the remains of the larger Roman fort at Cășeiu, known in antiquity as Samum, which guarded the Someș crossing.
The Someș valley is a quiet, rural corridor between Dej and Jibou, a landscape of hay meadows, orchards, small fields and wooden gates carved with patterns, where horse carts are still a common sight. The road along the river is mostly flat and gently curving, with a decent surface but occasional potholes, and it is a pleasant, unhurried ride. The side roads that climb into the hills are narrower and rougher but give better views and lead to villages where little seems to have changed in decades.
Dej, sixteen kilometres away, is the nearest town of any size, with fuel stations, shops and restaurants; it grew rich on salt, mined here since Roman times and probably before, and on the trade along the river. In Gâlgău and the neighbouring villages, you will find small shops and perhaps a bar, but little else.
The best time to ride here is late spring, when the meadows are full of flowers, or early autumn, when the haystacks stand in the fields and the orchards are heavy with plums, some of which will end up as țuică, the fierce plum brandy offered to guests in every village. Sip carefully, and only when the riding is done.