Red rock and green pine make an unusual pair in Spain, and Albarracín has built a landscape out of it. The hills west of the town are the Pinares de Rodeno, a protected area where rodeno sandstone, a rusty red, has weathered into rounded boulders and little overhangs under a cover of pines. Those overhangs, sheltered from rain and wind, are where prehistoric painters did their work, and the Abrigo de los Dos Caballos is one of the shelters the Albarracín area is known for. The paintings belong to the Levantine tradition, part of the group inscribed by UNESCO in 1998, and they show animals, hunters and humans in rust-red pigment on the sandstone.
Albarracín is the sort of town that gets under your skin. It sits in a loop of the Guadalaviar river, which later becomes the Turia that reaches Valencia, with its pink-ochre houses stacked up the hillside and a long run of defensive wall climbing the ridge above. In the eleventh century it was the seat of a small Muslim kingdom ruled by the Banu Razin, and after the Christian conquest it remained a semi-independent lordship for a while. The wooden balconies and narrow, stepped lanes feel like a film set, though people really do live here, and the best time to walk them is early morning before the day trippers arrive.
The ride is the Sierra de Albarracín, a high plateau of juniper, pine and bare rock, often over a thousand metres. Roads are quiet, with long open bends and good views, and the air is cool even in summer. Winter brings snow and ice, and the area is among the coldest in Spain, so check conditions before travelling in the colder months. Spring and autumn are lovely, with clear light and wild herbs scenting the verges.
Teruel, twenty-five kilometres away, is the nearest large town and the place for fuel in quantity, although Albarracín is a small place and may have services. Eat well when you get there: cured Teruel ham is famous, and the local bars also serve roasted lamb and migas.
Walk the shelters carefully, since the sandstone is soft and the paint is thin.