This is the Transylvanian Plain at its northern edge, a land of soft hills rather than mountains, and Dealul Braniște is one of the rounded rises between the villages of Monor and Batoș in Mureș and Bistrița-Năsăud country. Braniște usually means a protected wood or reserved pasture, and the hill still carries patches of oak among the fields. From the top the view runs out over a rumpled carpet of meadows, orchards and strip fields, with the Călimani mountains a blue line far to the east.
Riding here is about small roads and slow pleasures. The county lanes link village to village over gentle climbs, the corners are mostly open and well sighted, and the traffic is a tractor, a horse cart and somebody's cows walking themselves home. Surfaces are uneven, with patched sections and the odd pothole deep enough to matter, and some links become gravel without much warning. It is lovely in late spring when the meadows are full of flowers, and in early autumn when the haystacks are up and the light turns gold.
Much of this area was Saxon, settled by German-speaking colonists in the Middle Ages, and the old names linger: Batoș was Botsch, nearby Teaca was Tekendorf. Their churches, many now quiet, still stand above the villages. Romanian and Hungarian communities have lived alongside them for centuries, and you will notice the mix in the church styles and the shapes of the gates. A short ride south brings you to Reghin, a town long known for its violin makers, who use the spruce of the nearby mountains for their soundboards.
The region also sits on salt. Sărățel and Sărățeni, places on these rides, take their names from salt springs and outcrops, and in the old days salt was carried from Transylvania down the rivers and over the passes as one of the province's main sources of wealth.
There is nothing to buy on the hill itself. Batoș, about four kilometres away, is a large village with a shop. For a reliable fuel stop, Teaca is the nearest town of any size, about fourteen kilometres off, and Reghin and Bistrița offer everything you could want. Carry water in summer, because shade is scarce once you leave the woods.