Why this ride
298 km from Stârciu to Stârciu, about 6 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor, Rogna - La Bontauă, Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum and Dobricel - Vârful Lazului. The coast is the point of it.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Agrij - Coasta Lată and Dobricel - Vârful Lazului
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 298 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 03
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Agrij - Coasta Lată → Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor
35 km on Agrij - Coasta Lată → Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Agrij - Coasta Lată
The Meseș mountains are a modest ridge by Carpathian standards, but for the Romans they were a natural wall, and they built their frontier along it. The north-western edge of Dacia ran along these hills, with forts, watchtowers and walls guarding the passes from the plains of the Barbaricum beyond. Agrij - Coasta Lată, near the villages of Stârciu, Buciumi and Meseșenii de Jos, is one of the watchtower sites named in the World Heritage inscription of 2024. Nearby, at Buciumi, are the remains of a fort, and a little further north, at Moigrad, lies Porolissum, the largest Roman site in the region, with a reconstructed gate.
Read the complete Agrij - Coasta Lată write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Agrij - Coasta Lată is where the day begins. Next is Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor.
2. Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor
Dealul Tărăvăilor is a hill above the village of Var, near Creaca and Jibou, in Sălaj county, north-western Romania, and like many hilltops in this part of the country, it held a Roman watchtower on the frontier of the province of Dacia. The Limes Porolissensis, as the northern frontier is known, was a system of towers, forts and earthworks guarding the roads leading to the great fortress of Porolissum, and the towers were placed on hills with views over the valleys, so that signals could pass quickly along the line.
Read the complete Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rogna - La Bontauă.
3. Rogna - La Bontauă
Rogna is a scatter of farms in the hills of northern Sălaj, close to the Someș valley and the border with Maramureș, and La Bontauă is the name the locals give to a piece of high ground where a Roman frontier site has been recorded. The northern edge of Roman Dacia ran through these hills, and the Romans placed watchtowers and small forts on high points to keep an eye on the river valleys and the free Dacians to the north. Today there is little to see apart from the shape of the land, but the view over the rolling hills makes it easy to imagine a sentry looking out across the valley.
Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Rogna - La Bontauă. Next is Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -.
4. Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -
On a terrace above the river Someș, near the village of Cășeiu, a few kilometres from Dej in northern Transylvania, the Romans built a fort they called Samum. It guarded the northern edge of their province of Dacia, which they conquered in the early second century after two hard wars against the Dacian king Decebalus. The fort controlled the valley and the routes into the province, and today its outline can still be traced in the fields, with low walls and earthworks where archaeologists have uncovered gates, towers and barracks. In 2024 the Dacian frontier was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -, about halfway. Next is Dobricel - Vârful Lazului.
5. Dobricel - Vârful Lazului
Spermezeu is the kind of place a road atlas barely notices: a commune of scattered villages in the hills of Bistrița-Năsăud, in northern Transylvania, between the upper Someș valley and the Țibleș mountains. The site of Dobricel, on the hilltop known as Vârful Lazului, is one of the many archaeological places recorded in the area, a high point above the valleys where traces of earlier inhabitants have been noted. There is not much to see without an archaeologist's eye, but the hilltop and the country around it are a good excuse for a ride through a region few foreigners ever visit.
Read the complete Dobricel - Vârful Lazului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dobricel - Vârful Lazului sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -.
6. back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - comes up about 190 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Rogna - La Bontauă.
7. back through Rogna - La Bontauă
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 225 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Rogna - La Bontauă. Next is back through Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor.
8. back through Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor, late in the day. Next is Agrij - Coasta Lată.
9. Agrij - Coasta Lată
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Agrij - Coasta Lată write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 298 km.
Leg by leg
Agrij - Coasta Lată to Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor
Agrij - Coasta Lată → Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor to Rogna - La Bontauă
Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor → Rogna - La Bontauă is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rogna - La Bontauă to Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -
Rogna - La Bontauă → Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - to Dobricel - Vârful Lazului
Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - → Dobricel - Vârful Lazului is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dobricel - Vârful Lazului to back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -
Dobricel - Vârful Lazului → back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - to back through Rogna - La Bontauă
back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - → back through Rogna - La Bontauă is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rogna - La Bontauă to back through Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor
back through Rogna - La Bontauă → back through Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor to Agrij - Coasta Lată
back through Var - Dealul Tărăvăilor → Agrij - Coasta Lată is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.