The Someș river cuts through the low hills of north-western Transylvania in a series of wide loops, and at Cormeniș, a small village in Sălaj county, it passes below a bank where the Romans placed one of their watchtowers. This was the northern edge of the province of Dacia Porolissensis, the frontier facing the free Dacian tribes beyond, and a line of towers and small forts ran along the hills, linked by signals and patrols. The site at Râpa Malului, the riverbank cliff, is one of the many components of the Dacian frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024. As so often on the Dacian limes, there is little to see apart from a slight rise in a field, but standing up there with the river below, you can easily imagine a small garrison watching the valley.
The Someș valley here is beautiful in a quiet way: willows and poplars along the water, steep hillsides of meadows and woods, and villages with small churches. North of the river, the hills of Țicău and the Lăpuș country lead into Maramureș, and several villages in the area have old wooden churches, simpler than the famous ones further north but often in lovely settings on a hill above the houses. In autumn the colours are wonderful, and in winter the valley can be wrapped in fog for days.
The road along the Someș, from Jibou towards Dej, follows the river through the narrow section of the valley with gentle, flowing bends, light traffic and a few rough patches. The railway runs alongside, sometimes crossing the river on old bridges. Side roads into the villages are narrow, sometimes unpaved, and you will meet horse carts, cattle and geese. Roads in this part of Romania have improved a lot in recent years, but surfaces can still change from smooth to broken without warning.
Jibou, about twenty kilometres away, is the town for fuel, shops and food, and it has a surprise: the Wesselényi castle, a baroque mansion of the Hungarian noble family, with a large botanical garden behind it, one of the best in the country, with greenhouses and a Japanese garden. Village shops along the Someș sell basics, and if you are offered a glass of homemade pălincă, it is polite to accept, though not before riding.