Two points carry the name Cornul Malului, and the second of them belongs to the same ridge as the first, just over a kilometre from Negrilești, a village of fewer than fifteen hundred people in the north of Bistrița-Năsăud county. The name means the horn of the bank, and in the language of these hills a mal is a steep bank, a slope above a stream or a field boundary, so the horn must be a spur or a corner that juts out from the hillside. It is another quiet high field in a country made of them.
Look north and east from the ridges of this part of Transylvania and the land begins to rise toward the mountains. The Țibleș and Rodna ranges lie in that direction, the latter a long crest of crystalline rock that peaks at Pietrosul Rodnei, at 2,303 metres, and has glacial lakes, alpine meadows and a national park. Chamois, marmots and, in the forests, brown bears live there. On the hills around Negrilești you are in the foothills of that world, where the climate is a little cooler and wetter than on the plain.
Weather matters here. The hills catch the westerly rain and the winter snow comes early, so autumn and spring can be wet and muddy. Mist forms in the valleys at dawn and slowly burns off, and thunderstorms in summer roll in quickly. For a motorcyclist, this means a rain jacket is not optional, and a morning that starts in sunshine may need a layer by noon. Road surfaces in the hills are mixed, with decent asphalt on the main roads and potholes or gravel on the side lanes, so check ahead before taking a lane you do not know.
The nearest fuel is in a larger town, and Năsăud or Bistrița are the safer places to fill up. Negrilești has a couple of shops for water and bread. Keep an eye on the fuel gauge, since the distances feel short on the map but the winding roads use more petrol than you expect.
Visit on a day with good visibility in spring or autumn, when the snow still sits on the high ranges.