Why this ride
From Poieni it runs 239 km to Poieni; allow about 5 h 30 of riding. The stops in between: Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură, Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2, Românași - Largiana / Cetate and Buciumi - Grădiște.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Poieni - Horhiș and Buciumi - Grădiște
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 239 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 30
- 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. Poieni - Horhiș
The Crisul Repede is the river that cuts through the Apuseni Mountains in north-western Romania, and it carries the main road and the railway between Cluj and Oradea along its valley. Poieni and Horhis lie on the hills just above this corridor, in the zone where the great bulk of the Apuseni gives way to lower, rolling farmland. Ciucea, down in the valley, is the nearest village of any size, and is known for a small castle that once belonged to Octavian Goga, a Romanian poet who briefly served as prime minister in the 1930s. He is buried there, and the house is now a museum.
Read the complete Poieni - Horhiș write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Poieni - Horhiș is where the day begins. Next is Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură.
2. 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
Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2.
3. Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
The Meseș hills are a long, wooded ridge in northwestern Romania, and for the Romans they were the edge of the world. Beyond them lay the free Dacians and the peoples of the great plain; on this side lay the province of Dacia, conquered by Trajan in the early second century. The valley of the Agrij river, which runs along the southern side of the ridge in Sălaj county, is dotted with archaeological sites, and Osoiul Ciontului is one of many places in the area where traces of ancient settlement have been recorded. There may be little to see at the spot itself, but the landscape around it is rich in history and quiet beauty.
Read the complete Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 69 km into the recorded legs you reach Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2. Next is Românași - Largiana / Cetate.
4. Românași - Largiana / Cetate
At Românași, in the valley of the Agrij in Sălaj county, the outline of a Roman fort called Largiana can still be traced on a low rise above the village, its rectangle of ramparts and ditches softened by centuries of ploughing. It stood on the road that ran from Porolissum, the great frontier stronghold to the north, down towards Napoca, today's Cluj, and it housed an auxiliary unit guarding the approach to the Meseș mountains. Archaeologists have found inscriptions, coins and pottery here, and the site is part of the Dacian frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024.
Read the complete Românași - Largiana / Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Românași - Largiana / Cetate, about halfway. Next is Buciumi - Grădiște.
5. Buciumi - Grădiște
Buciumi has a Roman fort, and a proper one. On a low hill above the village, the outline of a rectangular auxiliary fort has been excavated, with walls, gates and the foundations of the buildings inside, laid out to the standard Roman pattern with the headquarters in the middle and barracks to either side. It was one of the forts guarding the road and the passes of the Meseş mountains, a few kilometres from the larger fortress and town at Porolissum, and it held a unit of auxiliary troops, soldiers recruited from the provinces rather than citizen legionaries.
Read the complete Buciumi - Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Buciumi - Grădiște sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Românași - Largiana / Cetate.
6. back through Românași - Largiana / Cetate
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Românași - Largiana / Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Românași - Largiana / Cetate comes up about 140 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2.
7. back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 172 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2. Next is back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură.
8. back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură, late in the day. Next is Poieni - Horhiș.
9. Poieni - Horhiș
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Poieni - Horhiș 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 239 km.
Leg by leg
Poieni - Horhiș to Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură
Poieni - Horhiș → Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură to Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură → Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 to Românași - Largiana / Cetate
Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 → Românași - Largiana / Cetate is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Românași - Largiana / Cetate to Buciumi - Grădiște
Românași - Largiana / Cetate → Buciumi - Grădiște is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Buciumi - Grădiște to back through Românași - Largiana / Cetate
Buciumi - Grădiște → back through Românași - Largiana / Cetate is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Românași - Largiana / Cetate to back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2
back through Românași - Largiana / Cetate → back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 to back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură
back through Agrij - Osoiul Ciontului 2 → back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură to Poieni - Horhiș
back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură → Poieni - Horhiș is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.