Why this ride
202 km from Surduc to Surduc, about 4 h 23 of riding. On the way it passes Popeni - Dumbravă, Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei, Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 and Românași - Largiana / Cetate.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii and Românași - Largiana / Cetate
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 202 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 23
- 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. Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii
Surduc is a village in the Someș valley in Sălaj county, north-western Romania, where the river cuts a narrow path through hills on its way toward Baia Mare. Above the village, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the Hrăii stream, there are traces of a Roman watchtower, part of the frontier of the province of Dacia. The nearby villages of Tihău and Băbeni, and the town of Jibou, are all close by.
Read the complete Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii is where the day begins. Next is Popeni - Dumbravă.
2. Popeni - Dumbravă
Think of the frontier of Roman Dacia not as a wall but as a net. In the hills of Sălaj, north of the town of Zalău, the Romans stretched a fine mesh of watchtowers, small forts and earthen barriers across the ridges, all centred on the great fortress of Porolissum, which controlled the most important pass from the province into the lands of the free Dacians. Popeni, a village near Jibou, sits near one of the outer strands of that net: at Dumbravă, a spot on the edge of a wood, the remains of a tower are part of the Dacian frontier on the World Heritage list. You will see a bump in the ground and a lot of grass, and that is all the more reason to use your imagination.
Read the complete Popeni - Dumbravă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Popeni - Dumbravă comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei.
3. Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei
The Meseș mountains rise to the west of Zalău like a long green wall, and they formed the natural western boundary of Roman Dacia in this region. Along their crest and on the slopes above the plains, the Romans built a line of watchtowers, and the site above the fields with the evocative name of Șesurile Tâlhăroasei, roughly the robbers' flats, near the villages of Treznea and Aghireș, is one of them. It is part of the Dacian frontier on the World Heritage list. Up in the forest the remains are modest, but the position, high on a slope with a view over the valley, shows how the frontier used every advantage of the terrain.
Read the complete Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei. Next is Popeni - Voievodeasa 3.
4. Popeni - Voievodeasa 3
Voievodeasa means the voivode's wife, and the hill that carries the name is one of several summits that rise around Popeni, in the north-west of Sălaj. Who she was and which voivode she belonged to is not on any signpost, and local stories differ, so it is safest to say that the name belongs to the long age of Transylvanian princes and nobles whose estates, castles and quarrels once shaped these hills. The point lies about four kilometres from Creaca, a village of nearly three thousand.
Read the complete Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Popeni - Voievodeasa 3, about halfway. Next is Românași - Largiana / Cetate.
5. Românași - Largiana / Cetate
At Românași, in the valley of the Agrij in Sălaj county, the outline of a Roman fort called Largiana can still be traced on a low rise above the village, its rectangle of ramparts and ditches softened by centuries of ploughing. It stood on the road that ran from Porolissum, the great frontier stronghold to the north, down towards Napoca, today's Cluj, and it housed an auxiliary unit guarding the approach to the Meseș mountains. Archaeologists have found inscriptions, coins and pottery here, and the site is part of the Dacian frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024.
Read the complete Românași - Largiana / Cetate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Românași - Largiana / Cetate sits at 70 km, about halfway. Next is back through Popeni - Voievodeasa 3.
6. back through Popeni - Voievodeasa 3
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 comes up about 126 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei.
7. back through Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 152 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei. Next is back through Popeni - Dumbravă.
8. back through Popeni - Dumbravă
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Popeni - Dumbravă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Popeni - Dumbravă, late in the day. Next is Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii.
9. Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii 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 202 km.
Leg by leg
Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii to Popeni - Dumbravă
Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii → Popeni - Dumbravă is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Popeni - Dumbravă to Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei
Popeni - Dumbravă → Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei to Popeni - Voievodeasa 3
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei → Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 to Românași - Largiana / Cetate
Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 → Românași - Largiana / Cetate is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Românași - Largiana / Cetate to back through Popeni - Voievodeasa 3
Românași - Largiana / Cetate → back through Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 to back through Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei
back through Popeni - Voievodeasa 3 → back through Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei to back through Popeni - Dumbravă
back through Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei → back through Popeni - Dumbravă is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Popeni - Dumbravă to Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii
back through Popeni - Dumbravă → Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.