The Río Mundo is the Segura's most dramatic tributary, and it rises from a cave, the Cueva de los Chorros, near Riópar in the mountains of Albacete, in a burst of white water that bursts from the rock. By the time it passes Letur, thirty or so kilometres downstream, it has become a calm, green river in a steep-sided valley. The Barranco Segovia is a dry ravine on the south side of this area, some twelve kilometres from Letur and thirteen from Socovos, and the shelter named after it forms part of the rock art of the Mediterranean arc, protected by UNESCO since 1998. Its neighbours on the route, the Cueva de la Plata and the Cueva del Gitano, are in the same district.
Socovos, the nearer village, has a Moorish castle on a hill above the houses, and its streets are stepped and narrow. It was a frontier town in the Middle Ages, held in turn by Muslim and Christian lords, and its old walls still show the patchwork of repairs. The surrounding countryside is a quilt of cereal fields, olive groves and scrub, with limestone outcrops poking through, and is dotted with ruined farmhouses.
Riding here has an old-fashioned quality. The roads are not fast, and the scenery is a slow unfolding of small valleys, low passes and farming villages. A typical day might pass three tractors, one shepherd and a cyclist. The surface is variable, so keep your speed within the range at which you can stop for gravel or a pothole. In late spring the cereal fields are green and the poppies are out, and in October the stubble is gold.
Water is crucial for the walk to the shelter, and so is a hat. In July and August the heat is fierce, and the best time for walking is early morning. Remember that the paintings are vulnerable, and take only photographs.