Nobody builds a gallery in a ravine called Hell without a reason, and the first group of paintings in the Barranc de l'Infern shows what the reason probably was: shade, shelter and a view of whatever walked up the valley. This is conjunto 1 in the numbering archaeologists use, one of several clusters of Levantine rock art in the Vall de Laguar, in the mountains of the Marina Alta, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin.
If you want to see the best rock art of this district, ask in Castell de Castells, a village of fewer than five hundred people a few kilometres to the north-east. Near it, the Pla de Petracos is a large painted shelter with a dense mass of figures, and it is the best-known site in the area. Seen together with the smaller Barranc de l'Infern groups, it shows how several periods of painting overlap. Humans and animals appear in Levantine style, while later abstract signs in a more schematic style cluster alongside.
The geology explains the choice of shelter. This is a landscape of Cretaceous limestone, folded and fractured over millions of years, and rain has hollowed the softer layers of the cliffs into overhangs that stay dry in a storm. They face different directions, and some catch the low sun of winter. That is why a single ravine can hold six groups of paintings.
The ride into the district is demanding and rewarding in equal parts. Narrow roads wind up from Pego or Orba, past terraces of almond, carob and olive, and short, steep ramps lead into the hill villages. Surfaces are usually serviceable but grit gathers on the bends, and you should expect agricultural traffic. Mornings in spring or autumn, when the air is cool and the colours bright, are the best moments.
Fuel is in Pego, about seven kilometres from the ravine, which has eleven thousand people and all the usual shops. Murla and the other villages have a bar and little else. Bring plenty of water, wear boots and start early, because the sun in the ravine is intense and the stones hold the heat long after noon.