Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5 and Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5

   Some frontiers look dramatic on the map and modest on the ground, and the Roman watchtower site on Dealul Prislop near Hurez is a good example. Here, in the hills of Sălaj county in northwestern Romania, archaeologists have identified a series of small towers on high ground along the western frontier of Roman Dacia, which ran along the Meseș mountains and the hills around them. The towers were part of a chain of observation posts linked by signals, controlling movement across the frontier, and they are now included in the UNESCO listing of the Dacian frontier. Little is visible except low mounds and the shape of the land, but the views from the ridges explain why the Romans chose these spots.

   Read the complete Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5 is where the day begins. Next is Trezenea - Gura Teghișului.

2. 2. Trezenea - Gura Teghișului

   The Meseș mountains are a low, forested ridge in northwestern Transylvania, and for the Romans they formed a natural wall at the edge of the province of Dacia. Along the ridge, they built a chain of forts, watchtowers and earthworks, and the big fort of Porolissum, near Zalău, was the key to it all, guarding a pass through the mountains used by traders and travellers. In 2024, much of this frontier was listed by UNESCO as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia, and the site between Treznea and Gura Teghișului is one of its components. On the ground, there is little more than a line of ditches, banks and the foundations of towers, hidden in the forest.

   Read the complete Trezenea - Gura Teghișului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Trezenea - Gura Teghișului comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor.

3. 3. 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

   about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor. Next is back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului.

4. 4. back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Trezenea - Gura Teghișului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului, late in the day. Next is Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5.

5. 5. Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5. That is the ride.