Northern Sălaj is quiet country: low wooded hills, hay meadows, plum orchards and villages strung along the Someș river and its side valleys, with wooden churches and haystacks built around poles in the fields. Cliț is a small village near Băbeni, and the point named Fața Chicerii lies in the hills above it. Names in this list follow the pattern of the Romanian archaeological record, a village and then the local name of a hillside, and in this part of Sălaj many such points belong to the line of watchtowers and small forts of the Roman frontier of Dacia, which UNESCO recognised in 2024.
The context is fascinating, though. After Trajan conquered the Dacians in the early second century, the Romans held this province for about 170 years, and the frontier in northwest Dacia ran along the Meseș mountains and the Someș, centred on the great fort and town of Porolissum near Zalău. Watchtowers on the hills passed signals along the line, and the views from the ridges still make clear why they were placed where they are.
The riding is gentle and rural. The main road along the Someș valley follows the river and the railway between Jibou and Dej, with long curves and few towns, while side roads into the hills turn narrow, patched and sometimes unpaved. Horse carts, cattle and slow tractors are part of the traffic, and village dogs take their job seriously. Late spring, when the meadows bloom, and early autumn, when the forests colour and the plum brandy stills are working, are the most rewarding times.
Jibou, about fourteen kilometres away, is the nearest town with dependable fuel, shops and simple restaurants, and it has a baroque castle of the Wesselényi family with a large botanical garden. Villages like Băbeni and Lozna have small shops and sometimes a bar. Bring cash, water and a basic tool kit, because services are thin in the hills, and accept the invitation to a glass of pălincă if offered; refusing is harder than drinking.