Fericea – Vălișoara – Purcăreț – Vărai

Cycling style - Cross-country 

Difficulty degree – intermediate

Minimum equipment – MTB hard tail bike

Water sources - village shops and private fountains

Points of interest - views on the route, the wooden church in Purcăreț 

Route condition - the route is composed, for the most part, of dirt roads 

Warnings - we do not recommend going through this route on rainy days or immediately after a rainy period. It is also possible to meet flocks of sheep on the route, between Vărai and Fericea; there is also a sheepfold near the road, on the left side.

The route starts from the village of Fericea, Valea Chioarului commune, Maramureş County. To get to Fericea, from DN 1C Baia Mare - Cluj Napoca, between localities Buciumi and Valea Chioarului, we take it to Curtuiușul Mare, that we cross, after which we climb the Cornilor Hill, which we descend till the entrance in Fericea. Once in the village, we cross it to the school area over the valley, on the right side and look for a place to leave the car. We get on the bike and hit the road, but carefully, not to miss the road to the left that takes it up to the Prisnel Peak. The asphalt road ends quickly and we enter dirt roads and at the first fork we hold it to the left and then we hold the main road, which goes up to Prisnel, a peak that looms in front of us. The climbing is quite difficult, in some places having to do push-bike. We climb on the road until we reach the pasture. Halfway through the pasture, the road will bifurcate, and we will take it to the right to enter a level curve, that will bypass the Prisnel Peak. We will keep this road that surrounds the ridge and will pass us into Sălaj County, in Vălișoara village (Valea Rea). Once in Vălişoara, after the first house we take it to the left, and at the first intersection we take it to the right, down, on the road leading to Letca. After we get out of Vălişoara, on the right side of the road we will notice two private artificial lakes and some chalets. In front of the second lake we take it to the left up, to climb the village of Purcăreț. Arriving in Purcăreț, we cross the village until we reach the main asphalted road, where we take it to the left, immediately following to see on the left side the wooden church in Purcăreț. We continue in front to a fork where we slightly turn left, but we do not hold this direction long, because as soon as we notice on the right side a former agricultural cooperative stable, we will take it to the right, to get out of the village. We climb the pasture of the village until we almost reach the ridge, where we will take it to the right. The road will continue beautifully on the ridge, until it intersects with a cobblestone road, which comes from Vărai. Here, near a culvert, we take it to the left, down towards Vărai. Arriving in Vărai, we pass by the school, and in front of the village store we take it to the right up. Immediately we will reach another fork, where we will also take it to the right to pass by the church. We continue the climb, and at the next fork we will take it to the left up, in the hairpin curve. We climb until we get out of Vărai and reach the ridge, the road continues until it intersects with the asphalt road, which we came earlier by car from Curtuiușu Mare to Fericea. We take it to the left and descend on the asphalt, all the way to Fericea where we parked the car.

*Map, text and video source: https://maramures-bike.ro/