Negreni - Poiana la Arbore and Zagra - Dealul Lupului

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Negreni - Poiana la Arbore

   Somewhere in the hills of Sălaj county, between the villages of Lozna, Rus and Letca, a meadow called Poiana la Arbore, the clearing by the tree, marks one of the small Roman sites on the north-western frontier of Dacia. The name alone tells you what to expect: a glade, a ridge, perhaps a lone tree, and the faint traces of a watch post that once looked out over the Someş valley. The Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing in 2024 included many such places, and their value lies in the chain they form rather than in any single ruin.

   Read the complete Negreni - Poiana la Arbore write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Negreni - Poiana la Arbore is where the day begins. Next is Muncel - Cărămidă.

2. 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 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dumbrăveni.

3. 3. Dumbrăveni

   Dumbrăveni sits in the quiet hill country above the Someş Mare, where the river curves west towards Dej and the land folds into low ridges, orchards and small woods of oak and hornbeam. Like several places on these rides, it marks a point on the old northern edge of Roman Dacia, one of the scattered watchtower and earthwork sites listed in 2024 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Expect a hill and a view rather than masonry, and enjoy the feeling of being somewhere few travellers bother to stop.

   Read the complete Dumbrăveni write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 82 km into the recorded legs you reach Dumbrăveni. Next is Zagra - Dealul Lupului.

4. 4. Zagra - Dealul Lupului

   Zagra is the last farming village before the land begins to climb in earnest toward the Rodna mountains, the highest range in the Eastern Carpathians north of the Prislop pass. Pietrosul Rodnei, at about 2,300 metres, is the summit, and the whole massif is protected as a national park and biosphere reserve, with glacial lakes, rocky ridges and alpine meadows that stay snowy into June. From the Dealul Lupului, the Wolf Hill, you look across a patchwork of hayfields toward those peaks, which look closer than they are.

   Read the complete Zagra - Dealul Lupului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Zagra - Dealul Lupului, about halfway. Next is back through Dumbrăveni.

5. 5. back through Dumbrăveni

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Dumbrăveni write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Dumbrăveni sits at 104 km, about halfway. Next is back through Muncel - Cărămidă.

6. 6. 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 comes up about 218 km into the recorded legs. Next is Negreni - Poiana la Arbore.

7. 7. Negreni - Poiana la Arbore

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Negreni - Poiana la Arbore write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Negreni - Poiana la Arbore closes the day.