CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 183 km round trip from Câţcău - roughly 3 h 41 in the saddle. It goes by way of Rogna - La Bontauă, Tihău - Grădiște, Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 and back through Tihău - Grădiște. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The name is a mouthful, and a good one: the Ridge of the Wolf's Clearing, on the hill of Muncel, above the Someș valley north-east of Dej. Somewhere along this wooded crest the Romans kept a lookout on the northern border of Dacia, watching the valleys for movement from the free tribes beyond. Watchtowers like this one were the eyes of the frontier, signalling to the forts below, and the site is part of the Dacian frontier inscribed by UNESCO in 2024. On the ground, expect very little: perhaps a low mound, a ditch or scattered stones under the trees. It is a place for imagination and a walk rather than a monument.
Read the complete Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului is where the day begins. Next is Rogna - La Bontauă.
Rogna is a scatter of farms in the hills of northern Sălaj, close to the Someș valley and the border with Maramureș, and La Bontauă is the name the locals give to a piece of high ground where a Roman frontier site has been recorded. The northern edge of Roman Dacia ran through these hills, and the Romans placed watchtowers and small forts on high points to keep an eye on the river valleys and the free Dacians to the north. Today there is little to see apart from the shape of the land, but the view over the rolling hills makes it easy to imagine a sentry looking out across the valley.
Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Rogna - La Bontauă comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tihău - Grădiște.
The Someș river makes its way through the hills of north-western Romania between Cluj and Baia Mare, and near the small town of Jibou, in Sălaj county, it passes through a narrow valley guarded on its slopes by the remains of a Roman fort. The site, known locally as Grădiște, which simply means old fort, lies above the village of Tihău, close to Surduc and Gâlgău Almașului.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Tihău - Grădiște. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1, about halfway. Next is back through Tihău - Grădiște.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tihău - Grădiște sits at 105 km, about halfway. Next is back through Rogna - La Bontauă.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Rogna - La Bontauă comes up about 155 km into the recorded legs. Next is Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului closes the day.
Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului → Rogna - La Bontauă is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rogna - La Bontauă → Tihău - Grădiște is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Grădiște → Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zalău - Dealul Dojii 1 → back through Tihău - Grădiște is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tihău - Grădiște → back through Rogna - La Bontauă is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rogna - La Bontauă → Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.