Riding Enduro in Romania

Romania's riding is in the Carpathians. Forest and fire roads climb from the valleys to alpine ground.

The Trans Euro Trail (TET), a network of mapped dirt routes, runs 2,134 km through the country. It describes plenty of forest and fire roads, "some in great shape, some pretty demanding", climbing to alpine areas. Know the law before you ride them: Romania's Forest Code closes forest land, forest roads included, to public motor traffic. The owner can allow transit on a forest road that leads to a tourist or leisure destination, and organised events. Nothing else (see Regulations below).

Hard enduro terrain is what Red Bull Romaniacs made famous. Its daily routes run 100 to 180 km depending on class, crossing mountain areas, rocky ground, hills and valleys, and avoid tarmac as much as possible (event history). The hardest sections run through woodland, with trees, rocks, mud and steep inclines.

The high paved roads are part of the trip too. The Transfăgărășan (DN7C) climbs to 2,042 m between Romania's highest peaks. The Transalpina (DN67C) is higher still, topping out at 2,145 m at Urdele Pass.

The best way to pick a region is to follow the racing. Every venue below hosted a round of hard enduro in 2026.

Region	Base	Why go	2026 event
Southern Carpathians around Sibiu	Sibiu	Home of Red Bull Romaniacs	Red Bull Romaniacs
Hunedoara county	Ghelari, Băița	Two national hard enduro rounds	EnduroPanorama (6–9 May); Golden Mountain final (24–26 September)
Brașov county	Zărnești	Next to the Piatra Craiului range	Hard Enduro Piatra Craiului (26–28 June)
Harghita county	Ditrău	Long-running club event	Ditrocks, 9th edition (17–19 July)
Covasna county	Covasna	Round VI of the national series	Hard Enduro Covasna (7–9 August)

Round dates come from the Romanian Motorcycling Federation (FRM).

Sibiu is the obvious first base. The Romaniacs prologue runs through its city center, and the off-road days start in the mountains around it.

The Făgăraș and Parâng mountains carry the Transfăgărășan and the Transalpina. They are paved, but they link some of the country's highest riding and make superb transfer days on a road-legal bike.

Red Bull Romaniacs (Sibiu)

Red Bull Romaniacs is a five-day hard enduro rally. Day one is an in-city prologue on Bulevardul Coposu, Sibiu's main street. Four off-road days follow in the mountains around the city (event history).

2026 (23rd edition), 28 July–1 August. Manuel Lettenbichler won by 1 hour 3 minutes on a KTM 300 EXC. It was his seventh win, equaling Graham Jarvis's record, and his fourth in a row. Teodor Kabakchiev was second and James Moore third. Matthew Green was fourth and Mitch Brightmore fifth (Cycle News). In the Adventure classes, Mario Román won Adventure Ultimate on a CFMOTO 450MT (CFMOTO).

2027 (24th edition): 27–31 July, per the official site.

National Hard Enduro Championship (CNIR Hard Enduro)

Romania runs a full national hard enduro series under the FRM. The 2026 season had seven rounds and more than 1,000 riders from Romania and abroad. The final, Golden Mountain at Băița in Hunedoara county, ran 24–26 September 2026. It was organised by the club Haita Deva and drew 116 starters from ten countries. Norbert Levente Jozsa took the PRO title again (FRM report).

These rounds are the best way to race Romanian terrain outside Romaniacs week. Classes run from A and B to C, women and veterans.

Romanian off-road racing is club-run and federation-sanctioned.

• Federația Română de Motociclism (FRM) is the national federation. Its website publishes hard enduro, enduro and motocross reports and licensing news.
• Clubs organise the rounds. Haita Deva runs Golden Mountain. Ditriders Ditrău runs Ditrocks, which reached its ninth edition in 2026.
• Riders. Emanuel Gyenes from Satu Mare won the Dakar Rally's unassisted Malle Moto class in 2020 and 2025 (Wikipedia). He also took a silver medal at the 2007 ISDE.

Romaniacs week brings the international scene to Sibiu. The event runs under the patronage of the Romanian National Tourism Authority.

Romania has big mountains and a strong race scene, but its forests are not open to motorbikes. Several laws set the rules, and a visiting rider needs to know them all.

The Forest Code: forest land is closed to motor vehicles

Romania's Forest Code is Law 331/2024 (Codul silvic), published in Monitorul Oficial no. 7 of 9 January 2025. It covers the national forest fund (FFN): forests, forest land, and the forest roads that serve them (art. 1(3)(g)).

• The ban. Art. 58(7): "public access to the FFN with self-propelled or animal-drawn vehicles is prohibited." That covers an enduro bike on a forest road just as much as off it.
• Forest roads are private-use roads. Art. 113(2) defines forest roads as private-use technological roads for forest management, hunting, fishing and emergencies, and for owners to reach their land. They are "closed to public traffic". Art. 113(3) requires the access conditions to be posted on signs at the entrance of each forest road. Read them.
• Transit, where allowed. Art. 58(9): the owner or administrator may allow vehicles to transit a forest road that serves tourist, utility or leisure destinations, on conditions they set, if the forest is not put at risk. That gets you to a cabana, a lake or a monastery. It is not a riding loop. A barrier or a ban sign means no.
• Organised events. Art. 58(8): sporting, utility, recreational and tourist events with motor vehicles need a named organiser. They can run only outside protected natural areas, on specially marked routes, and with the agreement of the land administrator or owner. Ride the route during the event, not after.
• On foot and by bicycle. Art. 58(1) keeps the forest open to walkers and cyclists. The freedom stops at the engine.

Forest fines

Riders get fined for it. Law 171/2010 on forest offences sets a fine of 2,000 to 5,000 lei for taking a motor vehicle into the forest fund (art. 9(f)). On 1 May 2026, mountain gendarmes stopped seven Czech riders on ATVs and dirt bikes on the Tomnatec forest road in Hunedoara county. They had no written consent from the forest administrator or the hunting-ground manager. They were fined 14,000 lei between them under Law 171/2010 and the hunting law (Oficial Media).

The hunting law: off public roads, the manager must agree

Almost all rural land in Romania is hunting ground. Law 407/2006 defines a hunting ground as land "of any category, whoever owns it"; only national parks and the Danube Delta are left out (art. 1(n)). Art. 23(1)(i) bans driving motor vehicles for leisure off public roads in a hunting ground without the manager's consent. So a field, a meadow or a private track needs two yeses: the owner's and the hunting-ground manager's.

Protected areas: heavy fines

National parks, natural parks and Natura 2000 sites are regulated by Emergency Ordinance 57/2007. Art. 53(2)(m) makes it an offence to ride motorcycles, ATVs or other vehicles in a protected area without authorisation. The only exceptions are public roads, forest roads where access is not banned by signs or barriers, and land specially built and signed for the purpose. The fine is 5,000 to 10,000 lei for an individual and 30,000 to 60,000 lei for a company.

That forest-road exception only spares you this fine. Under the Forest Code, an unsigned forest road is still closed to your bike.

Camping in a protected area outside designated sites is also an offence, with a fine of 3,000 to 6,000 lei for an individual (art. 53(1)(h)).

Public roads: the legal way to ride

Romania's roads law, Government Ordinance 43/1997, splits roads by purpose. Public roads are national, county and local roads (art. 5). Local roads are commune roads, vicinal roads and streets, owned by the commune or town (art. 8(1)). Roads built for forestry, farming and other economic work are private-use roads, run by whoever owns or administers them (art. 3). That covers forest roads and farm tracks. A public road stays a public road whether it is tarmac or gravel. On maps, national, county and commune roads are numbered DN, DJ and DC.

How to ride legally in Romania

1. Ride public roads. National, county and commune roads, paved or not, are open to a registered, insured, road-legal bike with the right licence.
2. Enter an event. Organised events are legal on forest ground outside protected areas, on marked routes agreed with the landowner, while the event runs. Red Bull Romaniacs and the national hard enduro rounds are where you race. Don't go back and ride the course afterwards.
3. Ride a track or enduro park. Private land needs the owner's permission and the hunting-ground manager's consent. In a protected area, only land specially built and signed for riding is allowed.
4. Ask before you use a forest road. Every forest is run or served by an authorised forest district, the ocol silvic (art. 12). State districts are mostly Romsilva's, the national forest administration. Councils and private owners set up their own. Ask the district for transit to your destination. Where the district only provides services, it will send you to the owner. Follow the conditions on the entry sign.
5. Stay off meadows, crops and grazing land. They belong to someone. Riding them for leisure without the hunting-ground manager's consent is banned in any hunting ground. That is almost all rural land outside national parks and the Danube Delta. In a protected area it carries a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 lei.

The racing calendar is the best guide to the riding season.

Month	What's on
May	National series round II, EnduroPanorama, Ghelari (6–9 May 2026)
Mid-May–mid-October	Transalpina usually open
Late June–late October	Transfăgărășan usually open
Late July	Red Bull Romaniacs (27–31 July 2027)
September	National final (Golden Mountain, 24–26 September 2026)

The Trans Euro Trail gives April to October as the riding season. It describes a rainy, muddy spring, hot summers that are "perfect high in the mountains", and a mild autumn that can get chilly.

The Transfăgărășan is usually closed from late October to late June because of snow. It can stay open into November or close even in summer (Wikipedia). The Transalpina is open from mid-May to mid-October (Wikipedia), in daytime only (08:00–20:00).

Flying in. Sibiu International Airport (SBZ) is 3 km west of Sibiu and about 260 km from Bucharest. For Romaniacs, it puts you minutes from the prologue.

Bringing a bike. Romaniacs' official site lists race service, bike rental and transport information on its event pages.

Staying. Sibiu is the Romaniacs base. For the national rounds, the host towns (Ghelari, Băița, Zărnești, Ditrău, Covasna) are small, so book early.

Camping. The Trans Euro Trail says wild camping is legal in Romania. Protected areas are the exception: camp only at designated sites there. On fenced land, ask first.

Forest-road permission. If you need a forest road to reach a destination, contact the local forest district (ocol silvic) before the trip. Permission covers transit, not a riding loop. It is at their discretion, on their conditions.

• Check the high passes first. The Transfăgărășan is signed open or closed at Curtea de Argeș and Cârțișoara.
• Start with a national round. CNIR rounds run classes from A down to C, plus women and veterans. It is the simplest legal way into the forest.
• Read the sign at every forest road. The Forest Code requires the access conditions to be posted at the entrance. No sign giving you access means the road is closed to your bike.
• Expect mud in spring. Fit tires for it. Our enduro tire guide covers the choices.
• Train for long days. Romaniacs days can run to 180 km. Work on endurance and water crossings before you go.
• Emergency number. Dial 112, free across the EU.

Modern Romanian hard enduro starts in 2004. That year, Austrian snowboarder Martin Freinademetz founded Red Bull Romaniacs in Sibiu. He conceived the rally after visiting the Carpathian Mountains around the city (Wikipedia). Freinademetz had raced giant slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics (Wikipedia).

Romaniacs grew into one of hard enduro's defining races. Its roll of honor is led by two riders with seven wins each: Graham Jarvis and Manuel Lettenbichler.

The high roads have their own story. The Transfăgărășan was built between 1970 and 1974 under Nicolae Ceaușescu as a strategic military route across the Făgăraș Mountains. It was a response to the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia (Wikipedia).

Home-grown racing has grown alongside Romaniacs. The national hard enduro series drew more than 1,000 riders over seven rounds in 2026, and Emanuel Gyenes has twice won the Dakar's unassisted Malle Moto class.

• The race everyone knows. Red Bull Romaniacs: a city prologue in Sibiu, then four days in the Carpathians.
• A real national series. Seven hard enduro rounds in 2026, open to visiting riders.
• Racing on forest ground. Forest land is closed to motor vehicles by default. Events are the legal exception: outside protected areas, on marked, agreed routes, while the event runs.
• The highest paved roads in the country for your transfer days: the Transalpina (2,145 m) and the Transfăgărășan (2,042 m).

Compare Romania with its neighbor Bulgaria, or with Austria, where forest riding needs the owner's consent.