Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii and Românași - Largiana / Cetate

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii

   Zalău is the county seat of Sălaj, a city of around sixty thousand people sitting in a shallow valley where the Meseș hills fold down toward the Transylvanian plain. The stop sits just north of the Măgurii stream, on the edge of the town, which means you arrive through suburbs and allotments rather than through any grand gateway. That suits the county. Sălaj is not a place of famous passes; it is a place of rolling ridges, orchards, hay meadows and small roads that wander from one village to the next without much of a plan.

   Read the complete Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii is where the day begins. Next is Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1.

2. 2. Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1

   Vârful Cigleanului is a hilltop above the Someș valley in Sălaj, in that mild, folded part of northwestern Romania where the land rises in wooded ridges toward the Meseș mountains. The name simply means the peak of the Ciglean, and like many hill labels in Transylvania it points to an old vantage point more than a famous summit. The ground is orchard and pasture on the lower slopes, oak and beech on the higher, and on a clear day the view runs along the river toward Jibou.

   Read the complete Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Românași - Largiana / Cetate.

3. 3. 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

   about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Românași - Largiana / Cetate. Next is back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1.

4. 4. back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Ciglean - Vârful Cigleanului 1, late in the day. Next is Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii.

5. 5. Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii. That is the ride.