Mirșid - Poguior and Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Mirșid - Poguior

   Mirșid sits on the southern flank of the Meseș Mountains, in the county of Sălaj, a few kilometres from Zalău, and it is almost within sight of one of the best Roman sites in Romania. Porolissum, on the ridge above the village of Moigrad, was the capital of the Roman province of Dacia Porolissensis and a great frontier post on the northern edge of the empire, with large military forts, an amphitheatre, a customs post and a town with temples and baths, built after Trajan's conquest of Dacia in the early second century AD. The site is now an archaeological park, with the outline of the fort on a spur and, below, an amphitheatre cut into the hillside, and from the walls you can look over the Meseș Gate, the pass the Romans were guarding.

   Read the complete Mirșid - Poguior write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Mirșid - Poguior is where the day begins. Next is Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2.

2. 2. Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2

   Treznea is a small village in the hills of Sălaj county, eleven kilometres east of Zalău, and its name carries a heavy weight in Romanian history. In September 1940, after northern Transylvania was transferred to Hungary by the Second Vienna Award, Hungarian troops entering the region killed scores of villagers here, Romanians and Jews, in one of the worst atrocities of that time. A memorial in the village remembers the victims. It is a sobering reminder that these quiet hills have seen terrible violence, and a short, respectful stop at the memorial is worth more than any viewpoint on the ride.

   Read the complete Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2 comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură.

3. 3. Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură

   Somewhere between Dealul Mare and Arsură, two wooded hills above the village of Hurez in Sălaj county, the Roman frontier of Dacia ran along the heights, marked by watchtowers and small earthworks that are now almost hidden by forest. Together with the towers further north on the Meseș ridge, they formed a line that looked west towards the lands beyond the empire, and they were included in the World Heritage listing of the Dacian frontier in 2024. Finding the remains requires a map and some determination; the reward is a sense of how thinly Rome stretched its soldiers across these hills.

   Read the complete Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură. Next is back through Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2.

4. 4. back through Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Treznea-Coasta Ciungii 2, late in the day. Next is Mirșid - Poguior.

5. 5. Mirșid - Poguior

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mirșid - Poguior write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Mirșid - Poguior. That is the ride.