Why this ride
357 km from Chiuiești to Chiuiești, about 6 h 49 of riding. It goes by way of Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1, Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1, Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 and Popeni - Dumbravă. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii and Popeni - Dumbravă
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 357 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 49
- 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. Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii
North of Dej, the Someș river winds through a land of soft hills, orchards and scattered villages, and on the ridges above it the Romans once kept watch over the northern frontier of their province of Dacia. Chiuiești, a commune of small villages spread across the hills, is one of the places where archaeologists have identified the remains of watchtowers on high points along the frontier, including one on the hill known as Dealul Crucii, the Hill of the Cross. Little survives above ground beyond low mounds and traces in the grass, but the sites are included in the World Heritage inscription of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia, added in 2024.
Read the complete Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii is where the day begins. Next is Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1.
2. Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1
The Someș river cuts through the low hills of north-western Transylvania in a series of wide loops, and at Cormeniș, a small village in Sălaj county, it passes below a bank where the Romans placed one of their watchtowers. This was the northern edge of the province of Dacia Porolissensis, the frontier facing the free Dacian tribes beyond, and a line of towers and small forts ran along the hills, linked by signals and patrols. The site at Râpa Malului, the riverbank cliff, is one of the many components of the Dacian frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024. As so often on the Dacian limes, there is little to see apart from a slight rise in a field, but standing up there with the river below, you can easily imagine a small garrison watching the valley.
Read the complete Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1.
3. Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1
Vârful Cigleanului is a hilltop above the Someș valley in Sălaj, in that mild, folded part of northwestern Romania where the land rises in wooded ridges toward the Meseș mountains. The name simply means the peak of the Ciglean, and like many hill labels in Transylvania it points to an old vantage point more than a famous summit. The ground is orchard and pasture on the lower slopes, oak and beech on the higher, and on a clear day the view runs along the river toward Jibou.
Read the complete Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 95 km into the recorded legs you reach Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1. Next is Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2.
4. Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2
Place names on a map can be more honest than any guide. That is how much of the prehistory of Transylvania is known: through scatters of pottery and flint on a hillside above a stream, recorded by local museums, with little left to see on the surface.
Read the complete Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2, about halfway. Next is Popeni - Dumbravă.
5. Popeni - Dumbravă
Think of the frontier of Roman Dacia not as a wall but as a net. In the hills of Sălaj, north of the town of Zalău, the Romans stretched a fine mesh of watchtowers, small forts and earthen barriers across the ridges, all centred on the great fortress of Porolissum, which controlled the most important pass from the province into the lands of the free Dacians. Popeni, a village near Jibou, sits near one of the outer strands of that net: at Dumbravă, a spot on the edge of a wood, the remains of a tower are part of the Dacian frontier on the World Heritage list. You will see a bump in the ground and a lot of grass, and that is all the more reason to use your imagination.
Read the complete Popeni - Dumbravă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Popeni - Dumbravă sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2.
6. back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 comes up about 218 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1.
7. back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 262 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1. Next is back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1.
8. back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1, late in the day. Next is Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii.
9. Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii 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 357 km.
Leg by leg
Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii to Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1
Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii → Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 to Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1
Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 → Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 to Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2
Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 → Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 to Popeni - Dumbravă
Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 → Popeni - Dumbravă is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Popeni - Dumbravă to back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2
Popeni - Dumbravă → back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 to back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1
back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 2 → back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 to back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1
back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 → back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 to Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii
back through Cormeniș - Râpa Malului 1 → Chiuiești - Dealul Crucii is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.