Huta - Dealul Cozlii and Roșia Montană Mining Landscape
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
372 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 57
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.
372 km from Cizer to Cizer, about 6 h 57 of riding. On the way it passes 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. 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.
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 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 68 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 Huta - Dealul Cozlii. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Huta - Dealul Cozlii to Gilău - La Castel
Huta - Dealul Cozlii → Gilău - La Castel is 68 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 Huta - Dealul Cozlii
back through Gilău - La Castel → Huta - Dealul Cozlii is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.