Why this ride
A 171 km round trip from Ciceu-Giurgeşti - roughly 3 h 39 in the saddle. On the way it passes Guga - Vârful Țâglii, Glod - Toaca Glodului 2, Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului and Glod - Toaca Glodului 1.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 and Glod - Toaca Glodului 1
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 171 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 39
- 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. Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
The northern edge of Roman Dacia was a long line of watchtowers, small forts and earthworks drawn across the hills of what is now northern Transylvania, and Dealul Podului, the bridge hill, near Dumbrăveni, was one of the points along it. Watchtowers here kept an eye on the valleys that led north from the province, toward the lands of the free Dacians and other peoples beyond the frontier, and their remains, now mostly low earthworks in the fields and forest, are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing for Dacia, added by UNESCO in 2024.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 is where the day begins. Next is Guga - Vârful Țâglii.
2. Guga - Vârful Țâglii
Rugășești, Vad and Poiana Blenchii are the kind of villages most people drive past on the way to somewhere else, and that is precisely the charm of the hills that rise between them. The point marked as Guga, Vârful Țâglii, lies on this rolling country north of the Someș, roughly a dozen kilometres from Dej, in the band of land where Rome drew the northern edge of Dacia. A summit called Țâglii is the sort of place where a watchtower would have looked out across the Someș corridor toward the free tribes beyond, and the archaeological lists record a frontier site here.
Read the complete Guga - Vârful Țâglii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Guga - Vârful Țâglii comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
3. Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
East of Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrower valley, and around Ileanda the hills close in, wooded and steep, with villages tucked wherever there is room for a few houses and gardens. Glod is a tiny settlement in these hills, and Toaca Glodului is the local name of a height above it; toaca, by the way, is the wooden board struck to call monks to prayer, and hills with that name often have a commanding view. Like many points with this naming pattern in Sălaj, it is listed with the Roman frontier of Dacia, where watchtowers and small forts guarded the approaches to the province. On the ground you should expect little more than traces in a field or woodland, so come for the setting.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Glod - Toaca Glodului 2. Next is Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului.
4. Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului
Dej sits where two rivers meet, the Somes and the Somesul Mic, and it has been a salt town for as long as anyone remembers. The Romans knew salt here, and so did the medieval Hungarian kings, who taxed it. A few kilometres north-west of the town, on a hill called Dealul Muncelului near the village of Falcusa, the Roman frontier of Dacia Porolissensis left a trace. As far as I can tell from the label, it is one of the watchtowers or small installations of the limes, and it was included in the 2024 UNESCO listing. There is little to see but earth banks and a clearing. What interests me is the line of sight: from here the Romans could watch the road along the Somes valley, a corridor that ran from Napoca, today's Cluj, to the frontier fort at Porolissum.
Read the complete Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului, about halfway. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 1.
5. Glod - Toaca Glodului 1
Between Dej and Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrow, winding valley, with the railway, the road and the river taking turns to cross each other. On the hills above, near the village of Glod and the larger villages of Rus and Ileanda, the Romans kept a watch on the north-western edge of Dacia, and Toaca Glodului is one of their watchtower positions, among the components of UNESCO's Dacian frontier listing. Toaca is the name of the wooden board struck in Romanian monasteries to call the monks to prayer, and the hill may owe its name to its shape or to some long-forgotten story.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 sits at 70 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului.
6. back through Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului comes up about 102 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
7. back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 119 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2. Next is back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii.
8. back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Guga - Vârful Țâglii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii, late in the day. Next is Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1.
9. Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 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 171 km.
Leg by leg
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 to Guga - Vârful Țâglii
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 → Guga - Vârful Țâglii is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Guga - Vârful Țâglii to Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Guga - Vârful Țâglii → Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului to Glod - Toaca Glodului 1
Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului → Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 to back through Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului
Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 → back through Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului to back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
back through Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului → back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii to Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii → Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.