Most of the water that comes out of the taps of Murcia and Alicante begins life high in the hills around Nerpio. The Taibilla river rises in the Sierra de Segura and flows through the valley here, and a network of canals and reservoirs named after it carries drinking water hundreds of kilometres to the dry south-east coast. That might sound a dull thing to dwell on, but it is part of why the valley is so green: pine, juniper and holm oak on the slopes, poplar and willow along the river, and in the valley floor small plots of vegetables and fruit trees watered by old irrigation channels.
Cavidad II is one of the rock shelters of the Nerpio area, about eight kilometres from the village. The sandstone and limestone cliffs of the district are pocked with overhangs, and in a number of them prehistoric people left paintings, which are part of the Mediterranean Basin rock art that UNESCO listed in 1998. As a general rule these sites are fragile, and visits are best arranged through the local rock-art interpretation facilities, which can also tell you which shelters can be visited and how to behave around them.
The riding around Nerpio is gentle mountain riding, not alpine. Roads follow the river, climb to small passes through pinewoods and open out onto rolling plateaux with long views. The curves are comfortable, the surface is sometimes broken at the edges, and there are very few other vehicles, apart from the occasional tractor or flock of sheep. A cold wind can blow across the high ground, even on bright days, so keep a layer in the pannier.
Nerpio itself has about sixteen hundred people and a handful of bars, shops and guesthouses, but fuel is better planned at Yeste, a larger town some twenty-seven kilometres away. Trout from the river and lamb from the hills are the local pride, and in the autumn mushrooms appear on menus. If you are lucky enough to be here on a still evening, the sound of the river and the smell of wood smoke make a good argument for staying the night.
Spring has the best water in the river and the freshest green, and autumn the best colours.