Why this ride
A 303 km round trip from Cristeștii Ciceului - roughly 5 h 58 in the saddle. The stops in between: Muncel - Cărămidă, Cliț - Fața Chicerii, Porolissum and Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal and Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 303 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 58
- 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. 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
Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal is where the day begins. Next is Muncel - Cărămidă.
2. 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 comes up about 34 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 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Cliț - Fața Chicerii. Next is Porolissum.
4. Porolissum
On a hill above the village of Moigrad, the Roman town of Porolissum guarded a key pass through the Meseș mountains, the gateway to Roman Dacia from the north-west. Founded as a military camp after the conquest in 106, it grew into a town of thousands, with a large fort, an amphitheatre, temples, baths and a customs post, and it became a municipium, a self-governing city, under the emperor Septimius Severus. The ruins are among the most impressive Roman remains in Romania, with a reconstructed fort gate, walls and parts of the town, and they are part of the frontier sites of Roman Dacia.
Read the complete Porolissum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Porolissum, about halfway. Next is Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1.
5. Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1
Preluci is the sort of place that does not appear in guidebooks and does not seem to mind. The name on the stop points to a stone, a crag or outcrop above the village, and the ride starts and ends here, which gives you a good excuse to look at it properly before you go. The country around is the Sălaj hill belt where it nudges toward the Someș valley, a mix of oak and beech forest, pasture, and villages strung along small streams.
Read the complete Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Porolissum.
6. back through Porolissum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Porolissum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Porolissum comes up about 184 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 216 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii. Next is back through Muncel - Cărămidă.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal.
9. 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
The route ends here after 303 km.
Leg by leg
Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal to Muncel - Cărămidă
Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal → Muncel - Cărămidă is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Muncel - Cărămidă to Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Muncel - Cărămidă → Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cliț - Fața Chicerii to Porolissum
Cliț - Fața Chicerii → Porolissum is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Porolissum to Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1
Porolissum → Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 to back through Porolissum
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 → back through Porolissum is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Porolissum to back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii
back through Porolissum → back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii to back through Muncel - Cărămidă
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii → back through Muncel - Cărămidă is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Muncel - Cărămidă to Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal
back through Muncel - Cărămidă → Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.