Hurez - Sub Cornet 1 and Roșia Montană Mining Landscape
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
405 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 39
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.
From Stârciu it runs 405 km to Stârciu; allow about 7 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of Gilău - La Castel, Roșia Montană Mining Landscape and back through Gilău - La Castel. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hurez - Sub Cornet 1
The ridge of the Meseş mountains runs like a low, wooded wall across northern Transylvania, and the Romans, after they conquered Dacia in AD 106, made it the northern frontier of their new province. They built forts in the valleys, watchtowers on the high points and a road to link them, and this area near Hurez and Cornet lies within that line. The name on our list, Sub Cornet, means below the Cornet, which suggests a hill or ridge overhead, and the pattern of sites around here is of small watchtowers positioned to see along the valleys.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hurez - Sub Cornet 1 is where the day begins. Next is Gilău - La Castel.
2. Gilău - La Castel
Gilău is a market village on the Someșul Mic, the first real settlement west of Cluj-Napoca on the road toward the Apuseni mountains, and the place name La Castel says it plainly: there was a fortification here, and there still is one, layered through the centuries. Under the later castle grounds, archaeologists found a Roman auxiliary fort guarding the valley route into Dacia from the west, and the medieval and early modern castle that followed sits on the same strategic ground. Rome, Hungarian nobles and later owners all made the same calculation about this spot.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gilău - La Castel comes up about 84 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roșia Montană Mining Landscape.
3. Roșia Montană Mining Landscape
Gold has been mined at Roșia Montană, in the Apuseni mountains of western Romania, for over two thousand years. The Romans, who called the place Alburnus Maior, dug an extensive network of galleries into the mountains to extract the gold, and some of these galleries survive, along with wax tablets found in the mines, recording contracts and daily life. In 2021, after years of controversy, the mining landscape of Roșia Montană was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hurez - Sub Cornet 1. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hurez - Sub Cornet 1 to Gilău - La Castel
Hurez - Sub Cornet 1 → Gilău - La Castel is 84 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gilău - La Castel to Roșia Montană Mining Landscape
Gilău - La Castel → Roșia Montană Mining Landscape is 118 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Roșia Montană Mining Landscape to back through Gilău - La Castel
Roșia Montană Mining Landscape → back through Gilău - La Castel is 118 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Gilău - La Castel to Hurez - Sub Cornet 1
back through Gilău - La Castel → Hurez - Sub Cornet 1 is 84 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.