Why this ride
A 303 km round trip from Zalău - roughly 5 h 56 in the saddle. It goes by way of Cliț - Fața Chicerii, Muncel - Cărămidă, Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal and Salva - Dealul Dumbravă. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Porolissum and Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 303 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 56
- 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. Porolissum
On a hill above the village of Moigrad, the Roman town of Porolissum guarded a key pass through the Meseș mountains, the gateway to Roman Dacia from the north-west. Founded as a military camp after the conquest in 106, it grew into a town of thousands, with a large fort, an amphitheatre, temples, baths and a customs post, and it became a municipium, a self-governing city, under the emperor Septimius Severus. The ruins are among the most impressive Roman remains in Romania, with a reconstructed fort gate, walls and parts of the town, and they are part of the frontier sites of Roman Dacia.
Read the complete Porolissum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Porolissum is where the day begins. Next is Cliț - Fața Chicerii.
2. Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Northern Sălaj is quiet country: low wooded hills, hay meadows, plum orchards and villages strung along the Someș river and its side valleys, with wooden churches and haystacks built around poles in the fields. Cliț is a small village near Băbeni, and the point named Fața Chicerii lies in the hills above it. Names in this list follow the pattern of the Romanian archaeological record, a village and then the local name of a hillside, and in this part of Sălaj many such points belong to the line of watchtowers and small forts of the Roman frontier of Dacia, which UNESCO recognised in 2024.
Read the complete Cliț - Fața Chicerii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cliț - Fața Chicerii comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Muncel - Cărămidă.
3. 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
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Muncel - Cărămidă. Next is Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal.
4. Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal
A Roman cavalry regiment kept its horses near the village of Ilișua, in the hills of northern Transylvania, for most of the time the province of Dacia existed. The fort, which modern archaeologists link with the ancient name Arcobara, was a large stone camp on the northern frontier, and its remains have been excavated over the years. It is part of the frontier of Roman Dacia listed by UNESCO in 2024. Today the site is a field with low walls and grassy mounds, and the neighbouring villages of Uriu, Cristeștii Ciceului and Braniștea go about their business around it.
Read the complete Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal, about halfway. Next is Salva - Dealul Dumbravă.
5. Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
The Someșul Mare valley around Năsăud was a frontier long before the Habsburgs made it one again. The Romans built watchtowers on the hills here to guard the northern edge of Dacia, and Salva - Dealul Dumbravă, the hill of the oak grove near the village of Salva, is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of the Dacian frontier in 2024. Sixteen centuries later, the Habsburg empire turned the region into a military border district, and the Năsăud border regiment, made up of local Romanian peasants, guarded the Carpathian passes in return for privileges and education.
Read the complete Salva - Dealul Dumbravă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Salva - Dealul Dumbravă sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal.
6. back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal comes up about 183 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Muncel - Cărămidă.
7. 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
about 218 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Muncel - Cărămidă. Next is back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii.
8. back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cliț - Fața Chicerii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii, late in the day. Next is Porolissum.
9. Porolissum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Porolissum 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 303 km.
Leg by leg
Porolissum to Cliț - Fața Chicerii
Porolissum → Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cliț - Fața Chicerii to Muncel - Cărămidă
Cliț - Fața Chicerii → Muncel - Cărămidă is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Muncel - Cărămidă to Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal
Muncel - Cărămidă → Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal to Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal → Salva - Dealul Dumbravă is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Salva - Dealul Dumbravă to back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal
Salva - Dealul Dumbravă → back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal to back through Muncel - Cărămidă
back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal → back through Muncel - Cărămidă is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Muncel - Cărămidă to back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii
back through Muncel - Cărămidă → back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii to Porolissum
back through Cliț - Fața Chicerii → Porolissum is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.