Why this ride
A 371 km round trip from Cizer - roughly 7 h 40 in the saddle. The stops in between: Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1, Cliț - Fața Chicerii, Muncel - Cărămidă and Church of the Holy Archangels. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Huta - Dealul Cozlii and Church of the Holy Archangels
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 371 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 40
- 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 - Dealul Cozlii
Huta is the sort of name that appears in dozens of places in Romania, from the old word for a glassworks or a forge, and it hints at an older economy, when these hills supplied charcoal, timber and metal to the towns of Transylvania. This Huta lies in the rolling country between Ciucea and the Crasna valley, in the hills where Salaj county meets Cluj, and the Dealul Cozlii, the hill named in the label, is one of the many wooded ridges that fold across the horizon.
Read the complete Huta - Dealul Cozlii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Huta - Dealul Cozlii is where the day begins. Next is Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1.
2. Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1
Zalau is the sort of city that many riders cross without noticing, and that is a pity, because the capital of Salaj County is a lively, youthful place with a long past. Its population of over sixty thousand makes it the largest town in this part of north-western Romania, set in the valley of the Zalau river at the foot of the Meses hills, and it has a mixed Romanian and Hungarian heritage that shows in street names, churches and food. The Hungarians called it Zilah, and the poet Endre Ady, one of the great voices of Hungarian literature, went to school here in the 1880s.
Read the complete Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 comes up about 44 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 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 232 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 284 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii. Next is back through Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1.
8. back through Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1, late in the day. Next is Huta - Dealul Cozlii.
9. Huta - Dealul Cozlii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Huta - Dealul Cozlii 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 371 km.
Leg by leg
Huta - Dealul Cozlii to Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1
Huta - Dealul Cozlii → Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 to Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 → Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 41 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 Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii → back through Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 to Huta - Dealul Cozlii
back through Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 → Huta - Dealul Cozlii is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.