A shelter called Covetes del Puntal sits in the limestone country of the northern Valencian interior, in the hills between Albocàsser and Cuevas de Vinromà. A coveta is a little cave, and this one is the second shelter, Abric II, in a series of painted sites. Its paintings are in the Levantine style, with the small red figures that make the art of the region so recognisable, and they are part of the UNESCO listing for the rock art of the Mediterranean basin.
Cuevas de Vinromà, with just under two thousand people, takes its name from the caves around it, and sits on the road that links the coast with the interior. The town has a handful of bars and a quiet main street, and the land around is a patchwork of almond, olive and carob. The Serra d'Irta, a coastal range of wild hills, lies to the east, and the Desert de les Palmes rises farther south, giving the area a grand backdrop.
For fuel and a proper meal, make for Alcalà de Xivert, about sixteen kilometres away, with a little over six thousand people. The old town has a castle on a hill, and the beaches at Alcossebre, nearby, are quiet outside the summer.
The roads are a joy. They link tiny villages across high ground, with a lot of bends and sudden dips into dry riverbeds. The surfaces are mostly good, and the traffic is light, apart from the occasional tractor. If you ride in spring the verges are full of flowers, and the smell of wild fennel and rosemary is strong. In autumn, the almond harvest brings men with nets and ladders into the groves. Fog sometimes settles on the high plateau at dawn, and when it lifts the views are extraordinary.
Summer is hot and bright, so keep to the early and late hours. The shelter is reached on foot, and the sites are protected, so ask locally about access and take water.