Why this ride
A 350 km round trip from Poieni - roughly 7 h 09 in the saddle. It goes by way of Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus, Cliț - Fața Chicerii, Muncel - Cărămidă and Church of the Holy Archangels. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Huta and Church of the Holy Archangels
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 350 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 09
- 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. Huta
Huedin is the gateway to the Apuseni Mountains, and most travellers go straight through it on the road from Cluj to Oradea without looking up. The town, of about nine thousand, sits on a plain between the Calata hills and the Vladeasa massif, which rises to nearly eighteen hundred metres to the south, and it has a mixed Romanian and Hungarian population, with the Hungarian name Banffyhunyad still seen on old maps. The countryside around, known as the Calata area, is famous for its folk costume and embroidery, and on feast days the women still wear elaborate dress.
Read the complete Huta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Huta is where the day begins. Next is Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus.
2. Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus
The Romans did not build their frontier in Dacia as a single wall. They built it as a chain of forts, watchtowers and signal posts along the crest of the Meseș mountains in what is now north-western Romania, and Moigrad is where the chain had its main fortress. The ancient town was called Porolissum, and it controlled the Meseș Gate, a natural pass through the ridge, where merchants paid customs and soldiers watched for raiders from the north. Walk the site today and you find an amphitheatre, a forum, a temple, stretches of the fort wall and long grassy slopes, all overlooking the green valley below.
Read the complete Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus comes up about 37 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 75 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 140 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 222 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 274 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii. Next is back through Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus.
8. back through Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus, late in the day. Next is Huta.
9. Huta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Huta 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 350 km.
Leg by leg
Huta to Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus
Huta → Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus to Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus → Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 38 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 49 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 Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii → back through Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus to Huta
back through Moigrad - La Poiana de Sus → Huta is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.