Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine and Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine

   Zalău is the county town of Sălaj, a modern small city of about sixty thousand people that grew fast in the communist period, and the countryside around it is far more interesting than the blocks of flats. Brusturi, a few kilometres off, sits in the hills that lead up toward the Meseş mountains, and the name on our list points to a Roman fort called Certiae, one of the line of military posts that kept watch on the northern edge of Dacia, along with a ruin the locals link with an old legend of robbers.

   Read the complete Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine is where the day begins. Next is Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului.

2. 2. Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului

   The name is a mouthful, and a good one: the Ridge of the Wolf's Clearing, on the hill of Muncel, above the Someș valley north-east of Dej. Somewhere along this wooded crest the Romans kept a lookout on the northern border of Dacia, watching the valleys for movement from the free tribes beyond. Watchtowers like this one were the eyes of the frontier, signalling to the forts below, and the site is part of the Dacian frontier inscribed by UNESCO in 2024. On the ground, expect very little: perhaps a low mound, a ditch or scattered stones under the trees. It is a place for imagination and a walk rather than a monument.

   Read the complete Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului comes up 61 km in. Next is Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci.

3. 3. Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci

   The Țibleș massif rises like a dark green wall between Maramureș and the Bistrița country of northern Romania, an old volcanic range topped by the Țibleș peak at around eighteen hundred metres. On its southern flanks, above the village of Groșii Țibleșului, lie the forests of Preluci, part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe that UNESCO has protected as one sprawling, multi-country site. These are woods left largely to themselves, where old beeches grow huge, fall, rot and feed the next generation without a forester in sight.

   Read the complete Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   123 km in you reach Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci. Next is back through Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului.

4. 4. back through Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului, late in the day. Next is Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine.

5. 5. Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine. That is the ride.