Nerpio is about as far from anywhere as Spain gets. The village sits in the southern corner of the province of Albacete, where the Sierra de Segura and the mountains of Murcia and Granada meet, in a high valley cut by the Taibilla river. Around it, in the ravines and rock walls, are some of the most important prehistoric painted shelters in the country, and the Abrigo de Jutia is one of them. The Nerpio sites belong to the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and several of them, including the famous shelters of the Solana de las Covachas, show hunters, archers and animals painted in the Levantine style. Guided visits are organised from the village; ask locally about access and opening times, because the sites are protected and not all are open.
The village is known across Spain for its walnuts. Nerpio's ancient walnut trees, some of them huge and centuries old, line the river terraces, and the nuts have their own reputation in Spanish markets. In autumn, harvest is a community affair and the smell of leaves and wet earth fills the valley.
The riding is sublime and remote. From Yeste to Nerpio the road winds along the edge of the Sierra de Segura with dramatic views over reservoirs and pine-covered mountains, and from Nerpio south towards the border with Granada and Murcia, the roads cross high, empty plateaus where you can ride for half an hour without seeing a car. The surface varies from good to rough, with patched sections and gravel in the bends after rain. Wildlife is plentiful: ibex on the crags, griffon vultures above, wild boar at dusk.
Segura de la Sierra, the hilltop village with its castle, is the cultural highlight of the wider area. It was the birthplace, according to tradition, of the poet Jorge Manrique, and its castle has been restored above a landscape of olive groves that stretch to the horizon.
Fuel is the main logistical concern. Nerpio is small and you should not rely on finding a station open; fill up in Yeste or, more safely, in Caravaca de la Cruz on the Murcian side before you head into the mountains. The altitude means cold winters with snow and pleasant summers, and the best riding seasons are late spring and early autumn, when the valleys are green or golden and the roads are dry.