Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 and Glod - Toaca Glodului 2

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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. 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. 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 back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii.

4. 4. 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.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1. That is the ride.