Red sandstone is the first thing you notice. Between Albarracín, Bezas and Gea de Albarracín the ground turns the colour of rust, broken into towers, corridors and rounded boulders under a dense cover of maritime pine. This is the Pinares de Rodeno, a protected landscape in the Sierra de Albarracín, and its overhangs shelter some of the best-known Levantine rock paintings in Aragon, including pale and red bulls that seem far too large for the shallow hollows that hold them. The Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas is one of these shelters, its name borrowed from the shepherds' pens, parideras, where ewes were brought to lamb under the rock.
The riding is a treat. A small road loops through the pine forest from Albarracín towards Bezas and back, narrow, often freshly surfaced, and full of short, flowing bends between the rock formations. The views are not wide, because the trees and boulders hem you in, but the colours shift constantly with the light, from a dull brick at midday to a deep glowing red in the evening. Watch for walkers and climbers parking along the verges on weekends, and for deer at dusk.
Albarracín itself, a dozen kilometres away, is one of the most striking small towns in Spain. Its houses, plastered in a pinkish render that matches the rock, cling to a ridge inside a loop of the Guadalaviar river, and a long line of medieval walls climbs the hillside above. For a few centuries it was the seat of a tiny independent kingdom, first under a Muslim dynasty and later under a family of Navarrese lords who refused to bow to Castile or Aragon. The town is busy at weekends but magical early in the morning before the coaches arrive.
For fuel and the full range of services, Teruel is the place, about twenty kilometres away, with its extraordinary Mudéjar towers and a firm claim to the best cured ham in the region under its own designation. Smaller villages like Gea and Cella have shops and bars but limited options for petrol. The Sierra de Albarracín sits high, and winters are properly cold, with frost and snow on the roads; spring and autumn bring the best riding weather, while summer days are warm but rarely oppressive at this altitude.