Why this ride
354 km from Băbeni to Băbeni, about 7 h 39 of riding. On the way it passes Muncel - Cărămidă, Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal, Salva - Dealul Dumbravă and Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 and Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 354 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 39
- 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 Muncel - Cărămidă.
2. 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
Muncel - Cărămidă comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal.
3. 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
about 85 km into the recorded legs you reach Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal. Next is Salva - Dealul Dumbravă.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2.
5. Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2
Transylvania's northern hills look like a landscape painted by someone who liked orchards and haystacks. Purcărete lies in the folds of the country between the Someș valleys and the Bistrița river, a region that was colonised in the Middle Ages by German-speaking Saxons, who built fortified churches and walled towns, and by Hungarians and Romanians who farmed the slopes. The Saxon town of Bistrița, not far away, still has a tall Lutheran church with a spire that can be seen from miles, and a handsome old centre of arcaded houses.
Read the complete Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 sits at 138 km, about halfway. Next is back through Salva - Dealul Dumbravă.
6. back through Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Salva - Dealul Dumbravă comes up about 234 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal.
7. 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
about 267 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal. Next is back through Muncel - Cărămidă.
8. 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
back through Muncel - Cărămidă, 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 354 km.
Leg by leg
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 to Muncel - Cărămidă
Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 → Muncel - Cărămidă is 50 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 Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2
Salva - Dealul Dumbravă → Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 to back through Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 → back through Salva - Dealul Dumbravă is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Salva - Dealul Dumbravă to back through Ilișua - Arcobara / Vicinal
back through 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 Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1
back through Muncel - Cărămidă → Preluci - Piatra Prelucilor 1 is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.