Transylvania - Biharian Mountains

From Jádremete to Aló völgy and back, touching Biharfüred. Only for the persistent.

We have already tried several routes from Debrecen to Vasaskőfalva, but this is the most enjoyable, especially if we evaluate it according to Montis' criteria. It only has one beauty flaw, that part of the journey has to be done by car. It's a plain country road, nothing special. Jádremete (500m) can be reached on the Nagyvárad - Cluj-Napoca road immediately after Király-hágó, from a small side road. Here the road branches off towards the Dragan reservoir and continues straight to Lake Lesi. We have already traveled both ways, we get straight to Biharfüred, wherever we go. The road leading to Lesi rises gently and is easy to ride, even if it is not snowy. By the way, this is the northern side of the mountain, so spring, which is already in full swing on the southern slope, often turns into winter here, pretty much giving up the lesson.

We are now heading towards Dragan. In order to reach the reservoir, we have to climb up to about 1050m, it is a continuous winding serpentine, with an ascent of 10-15%, a few kilometers and we are over it. The view of the reservoir and dam from above makes up for everything. The 120m high and 500m long dam was completed in 1987 and dams the Dragan stream into a lake. We descend and continue the journey across the dam following the line of the reservoir. There are huge concrete pylons above the lake, from which the view is again magnificent, so it is worth stopping to admire it. The road is a stony dirt road, when the loggers are not plowing it, it is very easy to turn and runs all the way through the Dragan valley. About 4 km from the lake, the road marked with a blue cross opens to the left to the Devil's Mill waterfall. It is worth making a detour, because this waterfall falling from 20 meters is the most beautiful in the Vigyázó Mountains. On the other hand, the road is for pedestrians, it leads through stone rollers and is quite steep, we leave the bicycles at the beginning of the tourist road.

Returning to the road, we soon turn right to reach Biharfüred (1100m) in a short time. We are coming from the Csodaforrás, the water is very delicious, it is worth filling the water bottles. Even today, many people from the surrounding area make pilgrimages to the spring, which according to tradition has healing properties.
Biharfüred was once a thriving resort, now I would say it's more run down, maybe there is a hotel, but we don't plan to stay long, since we still have to climb 1,500 meters. It is best to leave Füred on the asphalt road and turn left after 500 m at the yellow cross sign. This takes us to a vantage point, which is also the highest point of our journey. You can enjoy the view almost all the way, trees hardly cover anything from the landscape. There is also a shelter at the lookout point. Here we have to find the road leading to Fericse to the right, which is quite a branchy bog. Although this is a marked tourist trail, it is not maintained at all.

The next section of the road is unmarked and opens to the left in a large clearing. It is easy to find, on the lower left we see a small group of houses, which may be inhabited in summer, but we did not find anyone there in spring or autumn. The road leads through there between the houses, and we also scooter downhill, all the way to the Aló valley. We can't get lost here, we follow the stream all the way. Half an hour later, we sip a good cold beer and relax in the Anett pension, at the end of the valley. It's worth it, about 60 km and 2000 m elevation, but a road of unparalleled beauty.