Benassal lies in the interior of Castellón province, up in the highlands of the Maestrat where Valencian country turns to rock and pine, and the Barranc del Puig is a ravine close by. The shelter listed here, Abric II, is a bit under five kilometres from the village, which has about thirteen hundred people and a good stone-built centre of arcaded houses. It belongs to the painted rocks of the Maestrat, the northern part of the Valencian region's Levantine art zone, and shares the UNESCO listing of 1998 with sites in Aragon, Catalonia, Murcia and Andalusia.
The Maestrat is a high, windswept land of terraced slopes, stone walls and farmsteads called masos, many of them abandoned. The name comes from the medieval order of Montesa and before it the Templars, who controlled this country after the Christian conquest in the thirteenth century. Castles stand on isolated hills, the most famous at Morella to the north, and many villages preserve medieval bridges and market arcades. It is a place for those who like silence and long views.
Riders consider it a hidden playground, with mile after mile of empty, narrow roads that climb over passes of a thousand metres and more. The tarmac is generally fine, bends come in rhythm and the curves open to wide vistas over bare hills. The weather is changeable, with fog and cold in winter, and a dry, bright summer that is surprisingly mild at night. Late spring, when the broom is yellow and the stone is warm, is the best moment.
Services are limited. Benassal has a couple of bars and shops, and the nearest big town is Alcalà de Xivert, a long twenty-nine kilometres away down towards the coast. It is better to fill up before climbing into the hills and to allow for the distance. Benassal itself is known for its mineral springs, and spa visitors once came here to take the waters. If you walk to the shelter, bring more water than you think you need.