Ileanda - La Căsoi and Perișor - Vârful Colnicului

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Ileanda - La Căsoi

   Ileanda is a village on the Someș, the big river of north-western Transylvania, at a point where the valley narrows between wooded hills on its way from Dej towards Jibou. The railway runs alongside the water, the road keeps company with both, and the hills on either side rise in long slopes of beech, hornbeam and pasture. La Căsoi is a local name for a spot among those hills; you will not find a monument here, just the landscape and whatever the season is doing to it.

   Read the complete Ileanda - La Căsoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ileanda - La Căsoi is where the day begins. Next is Chiuiești - Dealul Podului.

2. 2. Chiuiești - Dealul Podului

   The hills above the Someș valley northeast of Dej roll away in long green waves, and the commune of Chiuiești sprawls across them in a scatter of hamlets, each tucked into its own fold of land. Dealul Podului, the Hill of the Bridge, is one of the ridges where traces of a Roman watchtower have been found, part of the chain of observation points that guarded the northern frontier of Dacia. The frontier was not a wall but a network of forts, towers and roads, and the Romans placed their towers where they could see far across the valleys and signal to one another. The site is one of the components of the World Heritage site of the Dacian frontier, although on the ground you will see little more than the shape of the hill and perhaps a low mound.

   Read the complete Chiuiești - Dealul Podului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Chiuiești - Dealul Podului comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal.

3. 3. Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal

   A Roman cavalry regiment kept its horses near the village of Ilișua, in the hills of northern Transylvania, for most of the time the province of Dacia existed. The fort, which modern archaeologists link with the ancient name Arcobara, was a large stone camp on the northern frontier, and its remains have been excavated over the years. It is part of the frontier of Roman Dacia listed by UNESCO in 2024. Today the site is a field with low walls and grassy mounds, and the neighbouring villages of Uriu, Cristeștii Ciceului and Braniștea go about their business around it.

   Read the complete Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal. Next is Perișor - Vârful Colnicului.

4. 4. Perișor - Vârful Colnicului

   The upper valley of the Zagra stream, in the hills of Bistrița-Năsăud county in northern Transylvania, is the sort of place that has produced poets. The village of Hordou, now named Coșbuc, birthplace of the poet George Coșbuc, lies not far away, near Năsăud, and Liviu Rebreanu, one of Romania's great novelists, was born in Târlișua, a little to the west. The hills around Perișor and Zagra, with the summit called Vârful Colnicului, are a landscape of meadows, beech woods and scattered farms that seems to have stepped out of their books.

   Read the complete Perișor - Vârful Colnicului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Perișor - Vârful Colnicului, about halfway. Next is back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal.

5. 5. back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal sits at 100 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului.

6. 6. back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Chiuiești - Dealul Podului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului comes up about 156 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ileanda - La Căsoi.

7. 7. Ileanda - La Căsoi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ileanda - La Căsoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ileanda - La Căsoi closes the day.