Why this ride
A 365 km round trip from Aghireș - roughly 7 h 11 in the saddle. It goes by way of Tihău - Grădiște, Glod - Toaca Glodului 2, Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului and Salva - Roata lui Todoran. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii and Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 365 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 11
- 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. Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
The Meseș mountains, a low, wooded range in north-western Romania, formed a natural barrier for the Roman province of Dacia, and the Romans fortified it with a line of watchtowers, walls and fortlets. Near the village of Treznea, on a hill known as Dealul Mănăstirii, the Monastery Hill, the remains of one of these defences overlook the valleys. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia, listed by UNESCO in 2024, and a short distance away lies Porolissum, one of the largest Roman settlements in Dacia, with a reconstructed gate and an amphitheatre.
Read the complete Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii is where the day begins. Next is Tihău - Grădiște.
2. Tihău - Grădiște
The Someș river makes its way through the hills of north-western Romania between Cluj and Baia Mare, and near the small town of Jibou, in Sălaj county, it passes through a narrow valley guarded on its slopes by the remains of a Roman fort. The site, known locally as Grădiște, which simply means old fort, lies above the village of Tihău, close to Surduc and Gâlgău Almașului.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tihău - Grădiște comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
3. Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
East of Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrower valley, and around Ileanda the hills close in, wooded and steep, with villages tucked wherever there is room for a few houses and gardens. Glod is a tiny settlement in these hills, and Toaca Glodului is the local name of a height above it; toaca, by the way, is the wooden board struck to call monks to prayer, and hills with that name often have a commanding view. Like many points with this naming pattern in Sălaj, it is listed with the Roman frontier of Dacia, where watchtowers and small forts guarded the approaches to the province. On the ground you should expect little more than traces in a field or woodland, so come for the setting.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Glod - Toaca Glodului 2. Next is Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului.
4. Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului
The countryside around Vârful Runcului is the landscape that two of Romania's best-loved writers came from, and it shows in their work. Liviu Rebreanu, born in the Năsăud area in 1885, set his novel Ion, about a peasant's hunger for land, in villages very like these, and the poet George Coșbuc grew up not far away in the valleys north of Năsăud. The hill itself, a rounded summit above the Someș valley, carries traces of the Roman watch system that once guarded the northern frontier of Dacia, part of the World Heritage listing since 2024, but its real charm is the view of the farmland Rebreanu wrote about.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului, about halfway. Next is Salva - Roata lui Todoran.
5. Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Salva is a railway village. Trains for the Maramureș line split off here from the route along the Someșul Mare, and the place has a slightly busy, crossroads feel for a commune of a little over four thousand people. The site called Roata lui Todoran, Todoran's wheel, sits right by the village in the Năsăud country of Bistrița-Năsăud, a region that marked the northern edge of Roman Dacia and later formed part of a Habsburg border regiment. Few places in Transylvania have been a frontier for quite so long.
Read the complete Salva - Roata lui Todoran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Salva - Roata lui Todoran sits at 141 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului.
6. back through Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului comes up about 230 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
7. back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 279 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2. Next is back through Tihău - Grădiște.
8. back through Tihău - Grădiște
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tihău - Grădiște, late in the day. Next is Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii.
9. Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii 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 365 km.
Leg by leg
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii to Tihău - Grădiște
Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii → Tihău - Grădiște is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Grădiște to Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Tihău - Grădiște → Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului to Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului → Salva - Roata lui Todoran is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Salva - Roata lui Todoran to back through Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului
Salva - Roata lui Todoran → back through Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului to back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
back through Dumbrăveni - Vârful Runcului → back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to back through Tihău - Grădiște
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → back through Tihău - Grădiște is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tihău - Grădiște to Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii
back through Tihău - Grădiște → Treznea-Dealul Mănăstirii is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.