Why this ride
A 391 km round trip from Poieni - roughly 7 h 53 in the saddle. The stops in between: Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii, Tihău - Grădiște, Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 and Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Poieni - Horhiș and Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 391 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 53
- 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 Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii.
2. Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
The Meseș mountains, a low, wooded range in north-western Romania, formed a natural barrier for the Roman province of Dacia, and the Romans fortified it with a line of watchtowers, walls and fortlets. Near the village of Treznea, on a hill known as Dealul Mănăstirii, the Monastery Hill, the remains of one of these defences overlook the valleys. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia, listed by UNESCO in 2024, and a short distance away lies Porolissum, one of the largest Roman settlements in Dacia, with a reconstructed gate and an amphitheatre.
Read the complete Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tihău - Grădiște.
3. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 102 km into the recorded legs you reach Tihău - Grădiște. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
4. Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
East of Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrower valley, and around Ileanda the hills close in, wooded and steep, with villages tucked wherever there is room for a few houses and gardens. Glod is a tiny settlement in these hills, and Toaca Glodului is the local name of a height above it; toaca, by the way, is the wooden board struck to call monks to prayer, and hills with that name often have a commanding view. Like many points with this naming pattern in Sălaj, it is listed with the Roman frontier of Dacia, where watchtowers and small forts guarded the approaches to the province. On the ground you should expect little more than traces in a field or woodland, so come for the setting.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2, about halfway. Next is Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului.
5. Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului
The countryside around Vârful Runcului is the landscape that two of Romania's best-loved writers came from, and it shows in their work. Liviu Rebreanu, born in the Năsăud area in 1885, set his novel Ion, about a peasant's hunger for land, in villages very like these, and the poet George Coșbuc grew up not far away in the valleys north of Năsăud. The hill itself, a rounded summit above the Someș valley, carries traces of the Roman watch system that once guarded the northern frontier of Dacia, part of the World Heritage listing since 2024, but its real charm is the view of the farmland Rebreanu wrote about.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului sits at 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
6. back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 comes up about 247 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Tihău - Grădiște.
7. back through Tihău - Grădiște
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 292 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tihău - Grădiște. Next is back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii.
8. back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii, 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 391 km.
Leg by leg
Poieni - Horhiș to Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
Poieni - Horhiș → Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii to Tihău - Grădiște
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii → Tihău - Grădiște is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Grădiște to Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Tihău - Grădiște → Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului to back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului → back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to back through Tihău - Grădiște
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → back through Tihău - Grădiște is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tihău - Grădiște to back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
back through Tihău - Grădiște → back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii to Poieni - Horhiș
back through Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii → Poieni - Horhiș is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.