Why this ride
From Cizer it runs 240 km to Cizer; allow about 5 h 18 of riding. It goes by way of Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii, Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine, Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii and Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2 and Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 240 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 18
- 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. Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2
Arsura is Romanian for a burn, a scorch, or a heat rash, and it turns up on rural maps wherever a hillside was cleared by fire. The name, though, tells a small story of its own, since a clearing burned for pasture or for planting is exactly the sort of place where people leave pottery, charcoal and traces of a settlement.
Read the complete Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2 is where the day begins. Next is Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii.
2. Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
The Meseș mountains, a low, wooded range in north-western Romania, formed a natural barrier for the Roman province of Dacia, and the Romans fortified it with a line of watchtowers, walls and fortlets. Near the village of Treznea, on a hill known as Dealul Mănăstirii, the Monastery Hill, the remains of one of these defences overlook the valleys. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia, listed by UNESCO in 2024, and a short distance away lies Porolissum, one of the largest Roman settlements in Dacia, with a reconstructed gate and an amphitheatre.
Read the complete Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine.
3. Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine
Zalău is the county town of Sălaj, a modern small city of about sixty thousand people that grew fast in the communist period, and the countryside around it is far more interesting than the blocks of flats. Brusturi, a few kilometres off, sits in the hills that lead up toward the Meseş mountains, and the name on our list points to a Roman fort called Certiae, one of the line of military posts that kept watch on the northern edge of Dacia, along with a ruin the locals link with an old legend of robbers.
Read the complete Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine. Next is Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii.
4. Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii
Some summits have a name that is hardly more than a shrug, and Vârful Ciungii is one of them. Vârf means summit or peak, and ciung is the Romanian word for a stunted or crooked thing, a word used for gnarled trees and bent hills. It stands above the village of Mesesenii de Sus, on the ridge of the Meseș Mountains, a low, long range of wooded hills in north-western Transylvania that forms a barrier between the Transylvanian plateau and the plains of the Pannonian basin to the west. It is not a spectacular range, with its highest points just under a thousand metres, but it has an importance out of proportion to its height.
Read the complete Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii, about halfway. Next is Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor.
5. Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor
Roman Dacia's north-western frontier ran along the crest of the Meseș mountains, and the hill country around Mirșid, east of Zalău, is laced with its traces: watchtowers, earthworks and small forts placed so that each could see the next. In 2024 these remains became part of the World Heritage listing for the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia. The name of the spot, La Strâmtură by the wolves' brook, gives a fair idea of its character: a narrow place in the hills, wooded and quiet, where the eye has to work to pick out a low mound or a ditch in the grass.
Read the complete Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor sits at 72 km, about halfway. Next is back through Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii.
6. back through Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii comes up about 139 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine.
7. back through Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 168 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine. Next is back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii.
8. back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii, late in the day. Next is Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2.
9. Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2 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 240 km.
Leg by leg
Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2 to Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2 → Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii to Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii → Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine to Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii
Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine → Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii to Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor
Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii → Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor to back through Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii
Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor → back through Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii to back through Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine
back through Meseșenii de Sus - Vârful Ciungii → back through Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine to back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
back through Brusturi - Certiae / LaTâlhăroasei Ruine → back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii to Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2
back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii → Hurez - Arsură 1 & 2 is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.