Chorro is the Spanish word for a jet or spout of water, and a chorrador is a place where water spouts, so the name of this shelter suggests a spring or a waterfall that once poured from the rock nearby. It would have been a precious thing in this dry country, and probably explains why the painters chose the spot. The Abrigo Chorradores lies about two kilometres from Millares, a village of fewer than six hundred people in the rugged hills of inland Valencia, and carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. The ride links it with a site called Barranco del Cabezo del Moro.
The neighbouring village of Dos Aguas, the Two Waters, gave its name to a noble title, the Marquis of Dos Aguas, whose palace in the city of Valencia has a famous carved alabaster doorway and now houses the national ceramics museum. It is a surprising link between a tiny mountain village and the grandeur of the city.
The country around is a mix of gorge, forest and farmland. The Júcar river runs nearby through a deep canyon, and the slopes are covered with pine, scrub and abandoned terraces. In spring, the hills are green and fragrant, and in autumn the air is clear.
The ride is a delight. Roads are narrow and winding, with tight bends, steep drops and views over the gorge, and they carry very little traffic. Surfaces are mixed, and rock and gravel may be present. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, and midsummer can be very hot.
Fuel is far away. Millares and Dos Aguas are tiny, and the nearest sizeable place is Turís, in the plain, about eighteen kilometres off, with over five thousand people and a famous cooperative winery. Fill up before you go, and carry water and a snack.