Rogna - La Bontauă and Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Rogna - La Bontauă

   Rogna is a scatter of farms in the hills of northern Sălaj, close to the Someș valley and the border with Maramureș, and La Bontauă is the name the locals give to a piece of high ground where a Roman frontier site has been recorded. The northern edge of Roman Dacia ran through these hills, and the Romans placed watchtowers and small forts on high points to keep an eye on the river valleys and the free Dacians to the north. Today there is little to see apart from the shape of the land, but the view over the rolling hills makes it easy to imagine a sentry looking out across the valley.

   Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Rogna - La Bontauă is where the day begins. Next is Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului.

2. 2. Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului

   The name is a mouthful, and a good one: the Ridge of the Wolf's Clearing, on the hill of Muncel, above the Someș valley north-east of Dej. Somewhere along this wooded crest the Romans kept a lookout on the northern border of Dacia, watching the valleys for movement from the free tribes beyond. Watchtowers like this one were the eyes of the frontier, signalling to the forts below, and the site is part of the Dacian frontier inscribed by UNESCO in 2024. On the ground, expect very little: perhaps a low mound, a ditch or scattered stones under the trees. It is a place for imagination and a walk rather than a monument.

   Read the complete Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului.

3. 3. Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului

   Bram Stoker never came to Transylvania, but he sent Jonathan Harker through Bistrița, and the town still enjoys the connection. Dealul Muncelului, a hill above the village of Negrilești, sits west of Bistrița in the Someș valley, and from here the road east leads through the Saxon town to the Tihuța pass, the Borgo Pass of the novel, where Count Dracula's carriage is supposed to have met his English visitor. It is a fine excuse for a ride, even if the vampire is fiction and the real history more interesting.

   Read the complete Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului. Next is Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -.

4. 4. Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -

   On a terrace above the river Someș, near the village of Cășeiu, a few kilometres from Dej in northern Transylvania, the Romans built a fort they called Samum. It guarded the northern edge of their province of Dacia, which they conquered in the early second century after two hard wars against the Dacian king Decebalus. The fort controlled the valley and the routes into the province, and today its outline can still be traced in the fields, with low walls and earthworks where archaeologists have uncovered gates, towers and barracks. In 2024 the Dacian frontier was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -, about halfway. Next is back through Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului.

5. 5. back through Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului sits at 102 km, about halfway. Next is back through Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului.

6. 6. back through Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Muncel - Muchia Poienii Lupului comes up about 176 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rogna - La Bontauă.

7. 7. Rogna - La Bontauă

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Rogna - La Bontauă write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Rogna - La Bontauă closes the day.