High up in the Sierra del Segura, where the province of Albacete meets Granada and Jaén, the village of Nerpio sits at around eleven hundred metres in a country of oak, pine and bare limestone. The Abrigo de las Cañadas, a rock shelter, lies about twelve kilometres from the village among its dry gullies, in one of the most thinly settled corners of Castilla-La Mancha.
Nerpio is famous among archaeologists for the sheer number of its shelters. More than a dozen painted sites have been found in the municipality, and the paintings, small red figures of deer, goats, archers and strange abstract signs, are among the richest of the Levantine tradition, thousands of years old and recognised by UNESCO as part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Some shelters are fenced and the local council runs guided visits, which is the best way to see them, and you should ask in the village before going on foot, as many paths cross private land and are poorly marked.
The setting suits a motorcyclist who does not mind solitude. The roads here are small, often narrow, and can be rough in patches, with long climbs and quick descents between pine woods and open pasture. Traffic is almost nonexistent, but so are services, and mobile coverage can disappear, so tell someone where you are going. The river Taibilla runs through the valley and feeds a reservoir that supplies water to much of Murcia. The light at altitude is clear and hard, nights are cold even in summer, and snow is possible from November to March, closing minor roads for days.
Fuel is the thing to plan. Nerpio has about sixteen hundred people and it is wise to ask whether the pump is open, but the dependable choice is Huéscar, thirty-odd kilometres away across the hills, a town of eight thousand with several stations and a pleasant old centre. Yeste, to the north-east, is another possibility. For food, expect mountain dishes: roast lamb, game, local sausages and gachas, a thick flour porridge from the days when shepherds lived on very little. Come in late spring or early autumn, when the days are warm and the pines smell strong, and the hills are quiet except for the sound of sheep bells.