Why this ride
From Ciucea it runs 369 km to Ciucea; allow about 7 h 45 of riding. The stops in between: Stâna - La Balize, Cliț - Fața Chicerii, Muncel - Cărămidă and Church of the Holy Archangels. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hurez - Poic and Church of the Holy Archangels
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 369 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 45
- 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 - Poic
Ciucea is the first place to know before you ride into Hurez, because the road from Cluj to Oradea passes through it and the poet Octavian Goga lived and died there. Goga, one of the voices of Transylvanian Romanian nationalism, served briefly as prime minister in 1937 and 1938, and the castle at Ciucea, where he spent his later years, is now a memorial museum. It sits in a small park above the road, with a view of the green hills of the Apuseni mountains, and Goga's grave is nearby.
Read the complete Hurez - Poic write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hurez - Poic is where the day begins. Next is Stâna - La Balize.
2. Stâna - La Balize
Zalau is the sort of Romanian city that few foreigners visit, a county capital of some sixty thousand people at the foot of the Mes mountains, with communist-era apartment blocks, a pleasant old centre and a surprisingly rich past. The point called Stana La Balize lies in the hills about five kilometres away, on the edge of the town. Stana means a sheepfold, a summer shepherd's camp, and the word tells you what these slopes were used for: pasture. As part of the group of sites on the Roman frontier of Dacia Porolissensis, it likely marks a watchtower or a related feature on the ridge above Zalau.
Read the complete Stâna - La Balize write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stâna - La Balize comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cliț - Fața Chicerii.
3. Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Northern Sălaj is quiet country: low wooded hills, hay meadows, plum orchards and villages strung along the Someș river and its side valleys, with wooden churches and haystacks built around poles in the fields. Cliț is a small village near Băbeni, and the point named Fața Chicerii lies in the hills above it. Names in this list follow the pattern of the Romanian archaeological record, a village and then the local name of a hillside, and in this part of Sălaj many such points belong to the line of watchtowers and small forts of the Roman frontier of Dacia, which UNESCO recognised in 2024.
Read the complete Cliț - Fața Chicerii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 85 km into the recorded legs you reach Cliț - Fața Chicerii. Next is Muncel - Cărămidă.
4. Muncel - Cărămidă
In northern Transylvania, where the Someș river winds through low hills between Dej and Beclean, the Roman Empire once ran out of land and patience. The province of Dacia, conquered by Trajan in the early second century, had a long and complicated frontier, and in 2024 parts of it were added to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Muncel–Cărămidă is one of those components, a small military site above the valley near Poiana Blenchii, part of a network of watchtowers and forts that guarded the northern edge of the province. The big fort of Porolissum, near Zalău to the west, with its reconstructed gate, gives you a sense of what the bigger garrisons looked like.
Read the complete Muncel - Cărămidă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Muncel - Cărămidă, about halfway. Next is Church of the Holy Archangels.
5. Church of the Holy Archangels
The wooden church at Rogoz stands in the Lăpuș country, a quieter, lesser-known corner of Maramureș, south of the mountains and away from the main tourist circuits. Built in the seventeenth century and dedicated to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, it is unusual in shape: the roof is asymmetric and overhangs deeply on one side, and the eaves are supported by carved wooden brackets shaped like horse heads, a detail that seems to come straight out of folk tradition. Inside, the walls are painted with scenes from the Bible, including a vivid Last Judgement. It is one of the eight churches in the UNESCO listing of the Wooden Churches of Maramureș.
Read the complete Church of the Holy Archangels write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Holy Archangels sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Muncel - Cărămidă.
6. back through Muncel - Cărămidă
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Muncel - Cărămidă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Muncel - Cărămidă comes up about 233 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii.
7. back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cliț - Fața Chicerii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 285 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii. Next is back through Stâna - La Balize.
8. back through Stâna - La Balize
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stâna - La Balize write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stâna - La Balize, late in the day. Next is Hurez - Poic.
9. Hurez - Poic
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hurez - Poic 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 369 km.
Leg by leg
Hurez - Poic to Stâna - La Balize
Hurez - Poic → Stâna - La Balize is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stâna - La Balize to Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Stâna - La Balize → Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cliț - Fața Chicerii to Muncel - Cărămidă
Cliț - Fața Chicerii → Muncel - Cărămidă is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Muncel - Cărămidă to Church of the Holy Archangels
Muncel - Cărămidă → Church of the Holy Archangels is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Holy Archangels to back through Muncel - Cărămidă
Church of the Holy Archangels → back through Muncel - Cărămidă is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Muncel - Cărămidă to back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii
back through Muncel - Cărămidă → back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii to back through Stâna - La Balize
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii → back through Stâna - La Balize is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stâna - La Balize to Hurez - Poic
back through Stâna - La Balize → Hurez - Poic is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.