Why this ride
A 208 km round trip from Ileanda - roughly 4 h 34 in the saddle. It goes by way of Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei, Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum, Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului and Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rogna - La Bontauă and Ciceu-Poieni - Podul Milcoaiei
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 208 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 34
- 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. 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 Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei.
2. Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei
Strâmtură means a narrowing, and the name fits. Just outside Gâlgău, a small Sălaj village on the Someș, the valley pinches between wooded slopes, and the Roman frontier made use of exactly such pinch points to control movement along the river. The site listed as Valea Strâmturei belongs to that northern Dacian line, and like most of its neighbours it is earthwork and setting rather than standing masonry. You come for the geography and the sense of a border that ran through these quiet hills nearly two thousand years ago.
Read the complete Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -.
3. 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
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -. 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 144 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -.
7. back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
about 168 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -. Next is back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei.
8. back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei, late in the day. Next is Rogna - La Bontauă.
9. 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
The route ends here after 208 km.
Leg by leg
Rogna - La Bontauă to Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei
Rogna - La Bontauă → Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei to Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -
Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei → Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - to Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului
Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - → 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 Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -
back through Chiuiești - Muncelul Chiuieștiului → back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - to back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei
back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - → back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei to Rogna - La Bontauă
back through Gâlgău - Valea Strâmturei → Rogna - La Bontauă is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.