The ridge of the Meseş mountains runs like a low, wooded wall across northern Transylvania, and the Romans, after they conquered Dacia in AD 106, made it the northern frontier of their new province. They built forts in the valleys, watchtowers on the high points and a road to link them, and this area near Hurez and Cornet lies within that line. The name on our list, Sub Cornet, means below the Cornet, which suggests a hill or ridge overhead, and the pattern of sites around here is of small watchtowers positioned to see along the valleys.
Nothing here is dramatic. The watchtowers were usually small square buildings of timber on a stone base, ringed by a ditch, with a handful of soldiers, and what remains now is a mound or a faint outline in the grass or among the beech trees. The real attraction is the landscape: a gentle country of orchards, hay meadows and scattered villages, with horse carts still working the fields, storks nesting on telegraph poles, and long views over a green and rolling land. The Roman frontier here was abandoned in the third century, when Dacia was given up, and the countryside has been quietly farmed ever since.
The roads are a mixed bag. County roads between the villages are narrow, with a lot of potholes, patches and sharp changes in the surface, and dogs, geese and wandering cattle are normal hazards. Avoid riding at dusk, and expect slow going. Spring, with blossom on the plum trees, and early autumn, when the hills are gold, are the best times; summers can be hot, and winter brings snow and ice. The route toward the Meseş pass and the Roman town of Porolissum, a few valleys away, is the best of the riding, with a gradual climb through forest.
Crasna, fourteen kilometres away, is the nearest town with fuel and shops, and Zalău, the county seat, is larger. In small villages you will find a shop and perhaps a bar, so carry water and snacks. Plum brandy, called țuică or pálinka, is the local drink, offered with generosity, and a rider should be careful with the offer.