Motorcycle routes · The Tihuța pass, 1,227 m
On the DN 17 past the Tihuța pass, then down to lake Colibița at 900 m, between the Bârgău and the Călimani.
Start and finish: Câmpulung Moldovenesc
Lake Colibița is called the mountain sea, and that isn't idle talk: it's a reservoir big enough that riding round it takes hours, with a beach, with boats and with mountains all around, at 900 metres. You get there on the DN 17, over the Tihuța pass at 1,227 m, then down to Prundu Bârgăului and onto the DJ 173A, which winds through the Bistrița gorge to the dam. 236 kilometres there and back, six hours of actual riding: a full day.
Daylight · The Tihuța pass, 1,227 m · today,
The times are for the starting point. Between ridges the light goes earlier than the clock says, so turn back a good hour before sunset.
Weather · The Tihuța pass, 1,227 m · today,
The forecast is for where you set off. Up on the ridge, count on a few degrees less and on wind you cannot see from below.
The kilometres and times are measured on the map, from the gate of the house. The time is what you actually ride: with photo and coffee stops, add half again.
See the whole route on the map All 9 points of the loop, in order, opened straight in Google Maps. From there you can start the navigation or send it to your phone.| Câmpulung Moldovenesc → Mestecăniș pass | 21.4 km · 35 min The DN 17 west, a long climb with open curves. |
|---|---|
| Mestecăniș pass → Vatra Dornei | 19.9 km · 33 min The drop towards Dorna. |
| Vatra Dornei → Poiana Stampei | 20.8 km · 34 min Further along the DN 17, across the basin. |
| Poiana Stampei → Pasul Tihuța | 11.3 km · 19 min The climb to 1,227 m, crossing from Moldavia into Transylvania. |
| Pasul Tihuța → Prundu Bârgăului | 28.5 km · 38 min The descent on the Transylvanian side, through the Bârgău villages. |
| Prundu Bârgăului → Colibița | 16.2 km · 25 min Right onto the DJ 173A, through Bistrița Bârgăului and the Bistrița gorge, down to the dam and the lake. |
| Colibița → Pasul Tihuța | 44.2 km · 61 min Back the same way, up to the pass again. |
| Pasul Tihuța → Câmpulung Moldovenesc | 73.3 km · 125 min The DN 17 east, through Vatra Dornei and Mestecăniș. |
We counted every bend on the route. Not the gentle waves of the road, but the real turns: where the road changes direction by more than 12 degrees, which is enough to feel the bars move. Then we split the loop into two-kilometre pieces and gave each piece its number of bends. That's what the chart below shows: the taller the bar, the twistier that stretch is.
Twistiest: kilometres 116–118 47 turns in two kilometres, one every 43 metres.
A national road the whole way, wide curves, through traffic including lorries. It's the main route between Moldavia and Transylvania.
Rebuilt, with smooth curves through the Bistrița gorge. The good part of the day.
Nine kilometres instead of sixteen, but gravelled. On road tyres it isn't worth it: take the 173A.
Tarmac changes from one year to the next. Above is what we know now. Before you go, ask us.
These are the pumps mapped in the villages and towns along the route. They close, they move: in the mountains, don't count on just one.
The things that come from the road itself: how narrow it is, how steep, what it passes through. How often they happen is our own judgement, not statistics.
It's the main road between Moldavia and Transylvania. Lorries on the climb to the Tihuța, especially on weekdays.
At 1,227 m it comes down fast, especially in the morning and after a warm day.
Colibița has become very popular. In summer the shores and car parks fill up, and at weekends the DJ 173A crawls.
Six hours of actual riding. With stops and an hour spent at the lake, it's nine or ten. Leave early.
The last seventy kilometres come in the evening, with the sun in your eyes heading east on the DN 17.
From the dam you see the lake opening up, with the mountains behind. It's the first place you see the whole of it.
The water, the beach and the Călimani ridges ahead. At sunset the light comes from behind, across the lake.
The road winds between the walls, with the river alongside.
The plateau in the pass, at 1,227 m, looking towards the Bârgău. The hotel that trades on the Dracula legend is here too.
Kaban, 43 minutes from the house. The last town before the pass.
Places to eat in the pass, on the main road.
Guesthouses and terraces along the shore, many open only in season.
Restaurant Mestecăniș, on the way back, 24 minutes from the house.
Taste Bucovina
Right at the top of the pass, on the main road. It's the only eating place mapped on the whole loop apart from Vatra Dornei: at the lake there are guesthouses that cook for their own guests, but no restaurant on the map. If you want a sure meal, stop here on the way out.
You won't find a workshop that works on motorcycles alone on any of these roads. The nearest is in Suceava, some seventy kilometres from the house and further from most of the loops. What you will find are car workshops and tyre places in the villages and towns, and plenty of them will turn a hand to a motorcycle. For a puncture, a battery or a tyre, they'll sort you out. For the engine, call first.
Call ahead. They keep their own hours and not all of them work on Saturdays.
We checked all of this in . We measured the kilometres on the map ourselves; the fuel stations and workshops are the mapped ones.
The other loops
A base for the loops
Parking in the yard and the whole house to yourselves. Leave at sunrise without waking a reception desk, and come back as late as you like.
Via Transilvanica