Zagra lies on the southern skirts of the Rodna Mountains, in the north-east of Transylvania, and the first thing you notice is the size of the range behind it. The Rodna massif is the highest part of the Eastern Carpathians, a long ridge of crystalline rock with many peaks above two thousand metres, the highest of them, Pietrosu Rodnei, reaching 2,303. A national park protects its glacial lakes, alpine meadows and a rich flora that includes edelweiss and several species that grow nowhere else. The villages at its foot are quiet, with wooden fences and haystacks.
Dealul Ciorilor means the Hill of the Crows, which is a good name for a place with a view over a wide valley, and the word coama, mane, is used for a long ridge. Both describe the kind of landscape in which people have long chosen to live: a defensible spur above a stream, with fields below and forest above.
The riding here is a mix of mountain and valley. The roads along the valleys under the Rodna ridge are quiet and scenic, with views of the peaks, and the side roads, lined with orchards and barns, are narrow and sometimes rough. The weather in the mountains can be sharp. Snow lies on the high ground into May, thunderstorms are strong in July, and the first frosts arrive in October. The best months for riding are June to September, with the road clear and the meadows in flower.
The larger towns of Năsăud and Bistrița, to the west, have more stations and shops. Local honey, cheese and plum jam are sold at village stands.
Look up at the ridge in the evening, when the sun lights the rocks and the valley is already in shadow. It is a good place to be.