The Prislop loop: Cârlibaba, the Prislop pass and Borșa

Start and finish: Câmpulung Moldovenesc

The long day, the one you leave at sunrise for. You drop down the DN 17 to Vatra Dornei, then take the DN 18 up the Bistrița Aurie, through Cârlibaba, to the Prislop pass at 1,416 m, the highest road pass in the Eastern Carpathians. You drop into Maramureș at Borșa and come back the same way. 243 kilometres and over six hours of actual riding, without stops. With breaks, it's a full day. And one warning that matters more than all the others: between Vatra Dornei and Borșa there are a hundred kilometres without a single petrol station.

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.

The stages, one by one

Where the corners are

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.

Road surface

• DN 17, Câmpulung – Vatra Dornei good

  National road, wide bends, through traffic.

• DN 18, Vatra Dornei – Cârlibaba – Prislop variable

  Rebuilt in sections. In 2013 the surface between Moisei and Iacobeni was badly degraded and went into major works; since then it has been done piece by piece. Check the current state before you go.

Tarmac changes from one year to the next. Above is what we know now. Before you go, ask us.

Fuel

• Câmpulung Moldovenescstart
  • Lukoil Navigate
  • OMV 24/7 Navigate
  • Rompetrol 24/7 Navigate
• Vatra Dorneilast serious petrol station before Prislop
  • Lukoil Navigate
  • Petrom Navigate
  • SOCAR Navigate
  • Socar Navigate
  • unnamed Navigate
• Borșathe Maramureș end
  • OMV 24/7 Navigate
  • Rompetrol 24/7 Navigate

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.

What can spoil the day

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.

• Snow and ice earlyseasonal

  In October 2025 it snowed and blew in the pass, and the road crews went out with grit. At 1,416 m the first snow can come in September. On a motorcycle, anything after mid-September is a gamble.

• Fog in the passoften

  It forms fast at altitude, sometimes only on the Maramureș side while the Bucovina side stays clear.

• A steep drop towards Borșaalways

  The Maramureș side is visibly steeper than the Bucovina one. On the way down the rear brake overheats if you hold it on; use engine braking.

• Grit left on the roadin spring

  The sand and grit spread in winter stay on the edges and in the bends until the first spring sweep.

• Flocks on the movein summer

  Grazing country. A flock can block the road for a few minutes; don't sound the horn in the middle of it.

• Tiredness on the way backalways

  You come back the same way, after 120 km and a pass at 1,400 m. The last kilometres on the DN 17 towards Câmpulung fall in the evening, with the sun in your eyes and your attention down.

Where to stop for a photo

• The Prislop pass, 1,416 m

  The plateau in the pass, with the Rodna to the south and Maramureș to the north.

• Bistrița Aurie

  The river runs beside the road for tens of kilometres; the best shots are from the bridges between villages.

• The drop to Borșa

  The hairpins on the Maramureș side, seen from above.

Coffee and food on the way

• Vatra Dornei

  Kaban. The last town with real options before the pass.

• Cârlibaba

  A few places in the village; hours are irregular outside summer.

• Borșa

  The resort complex has terraces; it's the natural turning point.

If you break down

Worth knowing before you go

• The 243 km take about 6 hours of riding, without stops. With breaks and photographs, it's a full day: leave at sunrise.
• The Prislop pass is at 1,416 m and catches fog and rain even in high summer. Unlike Transrarău it's a national road and it is cleared in winter, but „open” doesn't mean „good”: you ride in winter conditions, with black ice and packed snow.
• The first snow comes early. In October 2025 it snowed and blew in the pass, from the top down towards Cârlibaba, and the road crews spread 15 tonnes of grit. On a motorcycle, October is already a lottery.
• The Maramureș side is steeper than the Bucovina side. You climb gently and drop sharply, or the other way round, coming back.
• You come back the same way. If you want a full circuit, carrying on to Moisei and Vișeu adds 80 to 100 km and another two hours.
• Fill up in Vatra Dornei. There is no petrol station over the 100 km to Borșa.

A few things about the road

• The Prislop pass, at 1,416 m, is the highest in the Eastern Carpathians. It sits on the ridge between Preluca Tătarilor and Vârful Știol, 1,611 m, with the Rodna Mountains to the south and the Maramureș Mountains to the north.
• The DN 18 starts in Baia Mare and ends at Iacobeni, in Suceava county. Our loop rides its eastern end.
• The Hora la Prislop, a traditional pastoral festival, is held in the pass each year.
• The road follows the Bistrița Aurie, the river down which timber was once floated on rafts to Piatra Neamț.

How we know

• The kilometres, the times and the number of bends: measured by us on the road map, from the gate of the house. The petrol stations and workshops: the ones mapped.
• The state of the surface and the early snow in the pass: field observations and public accounts from autumn 2025.

We checked all of this in September 2026. We measured the kilometres on the map ourselves; the fuel stations and workshops are the mapped ones.