Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia and Buciumi - Coasta Ogrăzii 1

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia

   Above the town of Zalau, where the Meses mountains form a long, wooded ridge across northern Transylvania, the Roman Empire built one of its most remote defences. The mountains separated the province of Dacia from the free tribes to the north, and the ridge was fortified with a line of watchtowers and forts, the western part of what is now called the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia. The greatest of them was Porolissum, a garrison town and customs post on the Meses Gate, the pass through the ridge, near the village of Moigrad.

   Read the complete Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia is where the day begins. Next is Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu.

2. 2. Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu

   Dosu forest lies above Buciumi, in the hills where Sălaj starts rising toward the Meseș range. It is a working woodland, not a showpiece: beech and oak, a few hornbeam, tracks cut by loggers, and a floor that smells strongly of leaf mould after rain. If you stop and kill the engine, the quiet is very complete. Wild boar and roe deer use these slopes, and the ground along the verges is often turned up by the former.

   Read the complete Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu comes up 25 km in. Next is Poieni - Râmbușoi.

3. 3. Poieni - Râmbușoi

   West of Cluj, the valley of the Crișul Repede cuts through the hills toward the Hungarian plain, and the main road between Transylvania and the west follows it. The village of Poieni and the hill of Râmbușoi lie in this valley, between Huedin and Ciucea, with the forested slopes of the Vlădeasa massif, part of the Apuseni mountains, rising to the south. In Roman times, the frontier of Dacia ran through the hills to the north, along the Meseș mountains, and this corridor was a natural route to watch; hilltop positions in the area formed part of the defensive network, and the larger fort at Bologa guarded the valley nearby.

   Read the complete Poieni - Râmbușoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   50 km in you reach Poieni - Râmbușoi. Next is Buciumi - Coasta Ogrăzii 1.

4. 4. Buciumi - Coasta Ogrăzii 1

   Coasta Ogrăzii, the slope of the yard, is a hill name that recurs around Buciumi, and the first of the two points sits on the side of a ridge about five kilometres from Stârciu. Hillside names like this describe the old pattern of farming here: a garden or paddock on a slope close to the house, kept for fruit, vegetables or a cow, with the forest above and the stream below. It is a landscape of small scale, in which a family might own a dozen scattered plots of a few hundred square metres each.

   Read the complete Buciumi - Coasta Ogrăzii 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Buciumi - Coasta Ogrăzii 1, about halfway. Next is back through Poieni - Râmbușoi.

5. 5. back through Poieni - Râmbușoi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Poieni - Râmbușoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Poieni - Râmbușoi sits at 99 km, about halfway. Next is back through Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu.

6. 6. back through Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Buciumi - Pădurea Dosu comes up 124 km in. Next is Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia.

7. 7. Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia closes the day.