Why this ride
280 km from Zalău to Zalău, about 5 h 20 of riding. The stops in between: Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului, Salva - Roata lui Todoran and back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Porolissum and Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 280 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 20
- 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 Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului.
2. Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului
Somewhere above the Someș valley, on a hill the villagers call Dealul Hanului, the inn hill, the Romans kept watch over the northern edge of their province of Dacia. After Trajan's conquest in 106, the new province had to be defended on all sides, and its northern frontier, in what the Romans called Dacia Porolissensis, ran through these hills between the Meseș mountains and the upper Someș. Forts, watchtowers and earthworks controlled the valleys, and Căpâlna, near the village of Gâlgău, is one of the many small sites that formed that network, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia that Romania has put forward for UNESCO listing.
Read the complete Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului comes up about 75 km into the recorded legs. Next is Salva - Roata lui Todoran.
3. Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Salva is a railway village. Trains for the Maramureș line split off here from the route along the Someșul Mare, and the place has a slightly busy, crossroads feel for a commune of a little over four thousand people. The site called Roata lui Todoran, Todoran's wheel, sits right by the village in the Năsăud country of Bistrița-Năsăud, a region that marked the northern edge of Roman Dacia and later formed part of a Habsburg border regiment. Few places in Transylvania have been a frontier for quite so long.
Read the complete Salva - Roata lui Todoran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 140 km into the recorded legs you reach Salva - Roata lui Todoran. Next is back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului.
4. back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului, late in the day. Next is Porolissum.
5. 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
Back at Porolissum. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Porolissum to Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului
Porolissum → Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului to Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului → Salva - Roata lui Todoran is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Salva - Roata lui Todoran to back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului
Salva - Roata lui Todoran → back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului to Porolissum
back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului → Porolissum is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.