Why this ride
A 384 km round trip from Poieni - roughly 8 h 15 in the saddle. It goes by way of Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2, Tihău - Dealul Cucului, Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 and Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bologa - Grădiște and Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 384 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 15
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bologa - Grădiște
The village of Bologa lies in the valley of the Crișul Repede, on the main road between Cluj-Napoca and Oradea, where the river cuts through the hills between the Apuseni mountains and the Meseș. On a hill above the village, known locally as Grădiște, the Romans built the fort of Resculum, which guarded one of the main routes into the province of Dacia from the west. The fort was rebuilt several times, from earth and timber to stone, and archaeologists have uncovered its walls, gates and towers. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia. On another hill above the village stand the ruins of a medieval castle, which controlled the same valley in later centuries. Climbing to either site gives fine views over the valley and the surrounding hills.
Read the complete Bologa - Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bologa - Grădiște is where the day begins. Next is Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2.
2. Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
The Meseș hills are a long, wooded ridge in northwestern Romania, and for the Romans they were the edge of the world. Beyond them lay the free Dacians and the peoples of the great plain; on this side lay the province of Dacia, conquered by Trajan in the early second century. The valley of the Agrij river, which runs along the southern side of the ridge in Sălaj county, is dotted with archaeological sites, and Osoiul Ciontului is one of many places in the area where traces of ancient settlement have been recorded. There may be little to see at the spot itself, but the landscape around it is rich in history and quiet beauty.
Read the complete Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 comes up about 52 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tihău - Dealul Cucului.
3. Tihău - Dealul Cucului
Dealul Cucului means cuckoo hill, and the name fits the place: a low, wooded rise above the village of Tihău, close to the town of Jibou in the Someș valley of Sălaj county, where in spring the cuckoo's call echoes across the meadows. The point belongs to the network of archaeological sites along the Roman frontier of Dacia in the northwest of the province, near the confluence of the Almaș and Someș rivers, a strategic spot where valleys meet and roads cross. As with many of these sites, there may be little to see on the surface, but the location makes sense once you look at the map.
Read the complete Tihău - Dealul Cucului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach Tihău - Dealul Cucului. Next is Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1.
4. Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1
The Someș is the river of northern Transylvania, gathering its waters in the mountains and winding west through a broad, green valley towards Hungary. Around Rus and Ileanda, in the northeast of Sălaj county, the valley narrows between wooded hills, and the villages cling to the slopes above the river. Dăbâceni and the ridge called Coama Pietrar lie in this landscape, one of many recorded archaeological sites in the area, and like most of them it is more about the setting than about visible remains.
Read the complete Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1, about halfway. Next is Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2.
5. Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2
Above the valley of the Someș Mare in Bistrița-Năsăud county, the hill called Dealul Podului carries the faint remains of a Roman watch post, one of a string of small installations that kept an eye on the northern edge of the province of Dacia. Like many points on this frontier, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2024, it is less a monument than a viewpoint with a story, a place where soldiers once scanned the horizon for movement in the free lands to the north. Today the horizon holds forested ridges, orchards and villages strung along the river.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1.
6. back through Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 comes up about 244 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului.
7. back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tihău - Dealul Cucului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 286 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului. Next is back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2.
8. back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2, late in the day. Next is Bologa - Grădiște.
9. Bologa - Grădiște
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bologa - Grădiște 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 384 km.
Leg by leg
Bologa - Grădiște to Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
Bologa - Grădiște → Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 to Tihău - Dealul Cucului
Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 → Tihău - Dealul Cucului is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Dealul Cucului to Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1
Tihău - Dealul Cucului → Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 to Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2
Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 → Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 to back through Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 → back through Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 to back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului
back through Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 → back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului to back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului → back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 to Bologa - Grădiște
back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 → Bologa - Grădiște is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.