The Júcar is the river behind this stop, though you cannot see it from the shelter. Millares is a village of about five hundred people in the broken hill country of inland Valencia, not far from where the great river runs out of the mountains and into the reservoir at Tous. The country around is a labyrinth of gorges, ravines and small plateaux, cut by the Júcar and its tributaries, with pine woods on the slopes and bare limestone on the tops.
The name Mal Paso, bad step, appears all over Spain on any path with an exposed or awkward crossing, and here it is a reminder that this is walking country rather than a place for easy roadside viewing. The shelter belongs to the Levantine tradition, in which tiny red figures were painted under rock overhangs, and the label also mentions the Barranco Garrofero, named for the carob tree, garrofer in Valencian, which grows wild across the region. Carob pods were once an important animal feed and are still collected in some places.
The ride in is one of the nicest in the area. The road follows the river valley, goes through a few short tunnels, and climbs up toward Millares through terraces of oranges and olives. Corners come in a rhythm, some tight, some open, and the surface is generally smooth with the odd rough patch. Traffic is light except on weekend afternoons when cyclists and canyoners arrive. Spring is magnificent: the hillsides are green, the air smells of thyme and orange blossom, and the reservoir gleams.
You will need to think about supplies. Millares has a bar and probably little else. Turís is about eighteen kilometres away and, with five thousand people, has fuel and a proper selection of shops. The area is famous for wine, particularly from the Turís cooperative, and for the tomatoes of nearby Buñol, which every August become ammunition in the Tomatina.
Take water for the walk and wear sturdy shoes. The paths are dry and stony, and the shelter itself is exposed to the afternoon sun.