Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei and Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei

   Strâmtură means a narrowing, and the name fits. Just outside Gâlgău, a small Sălaj village on the Someș, the valley pinches between wooded slopes, and the Roman frontier made use of exactly such pinch points to control movement along the river. The site listed as Valea Strâmturei belongs to that northern Dacian line, and like most of its neighbours it is earthwork and setting rather than standing masonry. You come for the geography and the sense of a border that ran through these quiet hills nearly two thousand years ago.

   Read the complete Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei is where the day begins. Next is Rogna - La Bontauă.

2. 2. Rogna - La Bontauă

   Rogna is a scatter of farms in the hills of northern Sălaj, close to the Someș valley and the border with Maramureș, and La Bontauă is the name the locals give to a piece of high ground where a Roman frontier site has been recorded. The northern edge of Roman Dacia ran through these hills, and the Romans placed watchtowers and small forts on high points to keep an eye on the river valleys and the free Dacians to the north. Today there is little to see apart from the shape of the land, but the view over the rolling hills makes it easy to imagine a sentry looking out across the valley.

   Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Rogna - La Bontauă comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii.

3. 3. Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii

   Surduc is a village in the Someș valley in Sălaj county, north-western Romania, where the river cuts a narrow path through hills on its way toward Baia Mare. Above the village, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the Hrăii stream, there are traces of a Roman watchtower, part of the frontier of the province of Dacia. The nearby villages of Tihău and Băbeni, and the town of Jibou, are all close by.

   Read the complete Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii. Next is back through Rogna - La Bontauă.

4. 4. back through Rogna - La Bontauă

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Rogna - La Bontauă, late in the day. Next is Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei.

5. 5. Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei. That is the ride.