Why this ride
224 km from Lozna to Lozna, about 4 h 56 of riding. The stops in between: Glod - Toaca Glodului 2, Guga - Vârful Țâglii, Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 and Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Valea Leșului - Țiclău and Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 224 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 56
- 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. Valea Leșului - Țiclău
The Someș river does most of the work here. Flowing west and then north out of Transylvania, it has carved a valley through the hills of Sălaj county, and near the villages of Lozna and Letca the slopes close in, wooded and steep, with small clearings and hay meadows. On the ridges above, the Romans built watchtowers to guard the northern edge of Dacia, and the remains near Valea Leșului and Țiclău are among the sites included in the UNESCO frontier listing. Today they are little more than grassy hollows and stone scatters, visited by archaeologists and the occasional curious walker.
Read the complete Valea Leșului - Țiclău write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valea Leșului - Țiclău is where the day begins. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
2. 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
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Guga - Vârful Țâglii.
3. Guga - Vârful Țâglii
Rugășești, Vad and Poiana Blenchii are the kind of villages most people drive past on the way to somewhere else, and that is precisely the charm of the hills that rise between them. The point marked as Guga, Vârful Țâglii, lies on this rolling country north of the Someș, roughly a dozen kilometres from Dej, in the band of land where Rome drew the northern edge of Dacia. A summit called Țâglii is the sort of place where a watchtower would have looked out across the Someș corridor toward the free tribes beyond, and the archaeological lists record a frontier site here.
Read the complete Guga - Vârful Țâglii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Guga - Vârful Țâglii. Next is Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1.
4. Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
The northern edge of Roman Dacia was a long line of watchtowers, small forts and earthworks drawn across the hills of what is now northern Transylvania, and Dealul Podului, the bridge hill, near Dumbrăveni, was one of the points along it. Watchtowers here kept an eye on the valleys that led north from the province, toward the lands of the free Dacians and other peoples beyond the frontier, and their remains, now mostly low earthworks in the fields and forest, are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing for Dacia, added by UNESCO in 2024.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1, about halfway. Next is Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului.
5. Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului
Dej sits where two rivers meet, the Somes and the Somesul Mic, and it has been a salt town for as long as anyone remembers. The Romans knew salt here, and so did the medieval Hungarian kings, who taxed it. A few kilometres north-west of the town, on a hill called Dealul Muncelului near the village of Falcusa, the Roman frontier of Dacia Porolissensis left a trace. As far as I can tell from the label, it is one of the watchtowers or small installations of the limes, and it was included in the 2024 UNESCO listing. There is little to see but earth banks and a clearing. What interests me is the line of sight: from here the Romans could watch the road along the Somes valley, a corridor that ran from Napoca, today's Cluj, to the frontier fort at Porolissum.
Read the complete Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului sits at 69 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1.
6. back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 comes up about 146 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii.
7. back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Guga - Vârful Țâglii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 180 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii. Next is back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
8. 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
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2, late in the day. Next is Valea Leșului - Țiclău.
9. Valea Leșului - Țiclău
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valea Leșului - Țiclău 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 224 km.
Leg by leg
Valea Leșului - Țiclău to Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
Valea Leșului - Țiclău → Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to Guga - Vârful Țâglii
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → Guga - Vârful Țâglii is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Guga - Vârful Țâglii to Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
Guga - Vârful Țâglii → Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 to Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 → Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului to back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
Fălcușa - Dealul Muncelului → back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 to back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii
back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 → back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii to back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2
back through Guga - Vârful Țâglii → back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 to Valea Leșului - Țiclău
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → Valea Leșului - Țiclău is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.