CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
282 km from Zalău to Zalău, about 6 h 04 of riding. It goes by way of Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură, Tihău - Grădiște, Rogna - La Bontauă and back through Tihău - Grădiște. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei is where the day begins. Next is Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură.
Somewhere between Dealul Mare and Arsură, two wooded hills above the village of Hurez in Sălaj county, the Roman frontier of Dacia ran along the heights, marked by watchtowers and small earthworks that are now almost hidden by forest. Together with the towers further north on the Meseș ridge, they formed a line that looked west towards the lands beyond the empire, and they were included in the World Heritage listing of the Dacian frontier in 2024. Finding the remains requires a map and some determination; the reward is a sense of how thinly Rome stretched its soldiers across these hills.
Read the complete Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 107 km into the recorded legs you reach Tihău - Grădiște. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Rogna - La Bontauă, about halfway. Next is back through Tihău - Grădiște.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tihău - Grădiște sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură comes up about 227 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei closes the day.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei → Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură → Tihău - Grădiște is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Grădiște → Rogna - La Bontauă is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rogna - La Bontauă → back through Tihău - Grădiște is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tihău - Grădiște → back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hurez - Între Dealul Mare și Arsură → Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.