Poieni - Râmbușoi and Treznea - Cărbunarea

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Poieni - Râmbușoi

   West of Cluj, the valley of the Crișul Repede cuts through the hills toward the Hungarian plain, and the main road between Transylvania and the west follows it. The village of Poieni and the hill of Râmbușoi lie in this valley, between Huedin and Ciucea, with the forested slopes of the Vlădeasa massif, part of the Apuseni mountains, rising to the south. In Roman times, the frontier of Dacia ran through the hills to the north, along the Meseș mountains, and this corridor was a natural route to watch; hilltop positions in the area formed part of the defensive network, and the larger fort at Bologa guarded the valley nearby.

   Read the complete Poieni - Râmbușoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Poieni - Râmbușoi is where the day begins. Next is Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5.

2. 2. Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5

   Some frontiers look dramatic on the map and modest on the ground, and the Roman watchtower site on Dealul Prislop near Hurez is a good example. Here, in the hills of Sălaj county in northwestern Romania, archaeologists have identified a series of small towers on high ground along the western frontier of Roman Dacia, which ran along the Meseș mountains and the hills around them. The towers were part of a chain of observation posts linked by signals, controlling movement across the frontier, and they are now included in the UNESCO listing of the Dacian frontier. Little is visible except low mounds and the shape of the land, but the views from the ridges explain why the Romans chose these spots.

   Read the complete Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5 comes up 17 km in. Next is Trezenea - Gura Teghișului.

3. 3. Trezenea - Gura Teghișului

   The Meseș mountains are a low, forested ridge in northwestern Transylvania, and for the Romans they formed a natural wall at the edge of the province of Dacia. Along the ridge, they built a chain of forts, watchtowers and earthworks, and the big fort of Porolissum, near Zalău, was the key to it all, guarding a pass through the mountains used by traders and travellers. In 2024, much of this frontier was listed by UNESCO as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia, and the site between Treznea and Gura Teghișului is one of its components. On the ground, there is little more than a line of ditches, banks and the foundations of towers, hidden in the forest.

   Read the complete Trezenea - Gura Teghișului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   35 km in you reach Trezenea - Gura Teghișului. Next is Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor.

4. 4. Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor

   Roman Dacia's north-western frontier ran along the crest of the Meseș mountains, and the hill country around Mirșid, east of Zalău, is laced with its traces: watchtowers, earthworks and small forts placed so that each could see the next. In 2024 these remains became part of the World Heritage listing for the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia. The name of the spot, La Strâmtură by the wolves' brook, gives a fair idea of its character: a narrow place in the hills, wooded and quiet, where the eye has to work to pick out a low mound or a ditch in the grass.

   Read the complete Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor, about halfway. Next is Treznea - Cărbunarea.

5. 5. Treznea - Cărbunarea

   Treznea is a quiet village in the hills southeast of Zalău, the kind of place where the loudest sound is a cockerel or a tractor. Yet its name carries a heavy weight in Romanian memory. In September 1940, shortly after northern Transylvania was transferred to Hungary under the Second Vienna Award, Hungarian troops entering the area killed dozens of villagers here, Romanians and Jews, and burned houses. A memorial in the village commemorates the victims. It is a sombre reminder that the beautiful hills of Transylvania have seen terrible things.

   Read the complete Treznea - Cărbunarea write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Treznea - Cărbunarea sits at 70 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor.

6. 6. back through Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Mirșid - La Strâmtură 2-Pârâul Lupilor comes up 87 km in. Next is back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului.

7. 7. back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Trezenea - Gura Teghișului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   104 km in you reach back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului. Next is back through Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5.

8. 8. back through Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Hurez - Dealul Prislop 5, late in the day. Next is Poieni - Râmbușoi.

9. 9. Poieni - Râmbușoi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Poieni - Râmbușoi 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 228 km.