Nerpio sits high in the Sierra del Segura, in the southwest of Albacete, about eleven hundred metres up, and it feels like an outpost of the Andalusian mountains that happens to be in Castile-La Mancha. The village is small, with roughly sixteen hundred people, and the countryside around is a deep, rumpled landscape of pine forest, rock outcrops and tiny cultivated valleys. More than forty rock shelters with paintings have been found in the area, making Nerpio one of the richest places for prehistoric art in Spain, with paintings in red showing animals, hunters and abstract signs.
The Abrigo de la Fuente del Sapo, the Shelter of the Toad's Spring, is one of them, and it belongs to the wider tradition of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin listed by UNESCO. The names of the sites, like Fuente Serrano and Cañadas, tell you that water was the draw then as now. A small interpretation centre in the village is the best place to find out which shelters can be visited and how to get to them, as many lie along rough tracks or paths.
The mountains are the real reward. This is the headwater country of the Taibilla and Segura rivers, a land of black pine, juniper and cliffs, with wild boar, mountain goats and golden eagles. Honey, game and trout are on local menus, and the villages are hospitable. The nearest bigger town on the list, Yeste, is about twenty kilometres away, and there is little in between, so fill the tank beforehand. Nerpio has basic services, but do not rely on them late in the day.
Riding here means winding country roads, steep, narrow and often empty, with long views across forested ridges. Surfaces vary, with patches of gravel, and wildlife on the road, especially at dusk. Winters are cold and snowy at this altitude, and spring and autumn are glorious. Summer days are warm and the nights cool, perfect for stargazing, since there is almost no light pollution.