Why this ride
217 km from Băbeni to Băbeni, about 4 h 37 of riding. It goes by way of Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha, Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului, Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului and Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 and Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 217 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 37
- 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. Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1
Preluci is the sort of place that does not appear in guidebooks and does not seem to mind. The name on the stop points to a stone, a crag or outcrop above the village, and the ride starts and ends here, which gives you a good excuse to look at it properly before you go. The country around is the Sălaj hill belt where it nudges toward the Someș valley, a mix of oak and beech forest, pasture, and villages strung along small streams.
Read the complete Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 is where the day begins. Next is Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha.
2. Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha
Ileanda is a village in the north of Sălaj county, where the river Someș swings north-west out of the Transylvanian basin through a valley flanked by wooded hills. On the hill called Ciuha, above the village, the Romans had a post on the northern edge of their province of Dacia, one of the watchtowers and forts that guarded the frontier from the second to the third century. The site belongs to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia, inscribed by UNESCO in 2024. Do not expect a ruin with walls to wander through: what survives is mostly earthwork and traces in the ground, and the joy lies in the climb and the view rather than the remains.
Read the complete Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului.
3. 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
about 45 km into the recorded legs you reach Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului. Next is Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului.
4. Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului
North of Dej, in the hills of Cluj county, the land rises into a rolling upland of pastures, orchards and beech woods, cut by small valleys and dotted with villages. Muncelul Chiuieștiului is one of the hilltops above the village of Chiuiești, and the name is listed among archaeological sites of the Roman frontier in Dacia, which in this region ran along the hills to protect the province from the free Dacians and other peoples to the north. What exactly stood on this hilltop is something to learn from the local signs rather than assume; much of the frontier here consisted of small watchtowers and earthworks that left only faint traces.
Read the complete Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului, about halfway. Next is Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei.
5. Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei
Ciceu-Poieni is a tiny village in the hills north of the Someș, the kind of place that rarely appears on a map, and near it, at a spot called Podul Milcoaiei, the Romans placed a watchtower on the northern border of Dacia. It is part of the Dacian frontier on the World Heritage list, and today it is just a slight hump in the ground among fields and woods, but its position on the high ground gives a wide view over the valleys, which is exactly why it was chosen. The towers were placed so that each could see its neighbours and pass signals along the frontier with fire and smoke.
Read the complete Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei sits at 71 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului.
6. back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului comes up about 149 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului.
7. 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
about 172 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului. Next is back through Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha.
8. back through Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha, late in the day. Next is Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1.
9. Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 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 217 km.
Leg by leg
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 to Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 → Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha to Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului
Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha → Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului to Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului
Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului → Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului to Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei
Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului → Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei to back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului
Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei → back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului to back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului
back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului → back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului to back through Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha
back through Căpâlna - Dealul Hanului → back through Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha to Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1
back through Ileanda - Dealul Ciuha → Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.