Morella is one of those hill towns that makes you pull over for a photograph before you even know what it is. Its castle crowns a steep crag, its walls run down the slope in a ragged line, and the old streets climb in a spiral to the top. It stands at around a thousand metres in the Els Ports highlands in northern Castellón, near the borders of Aragon and Catalonia, and the surrounding country is wide, cold, windswept and dotted with stone farmhouses. The rock shelters nearby preserve some of the most famous painted scenes of Levantine rock art, part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, listed by UNESCO in 1998.
The paintings, in red pigment, show small, lively figures: archers, hunters, animals, groups in motion. They were made by people who lived long before farming spread here, and the style has a delicacy that surprises many visitors. The galleries and shelters near Morella la Vella, a few kilometres from the walled town, are small and fragile, and access is often managed, so ask locally about visiting arrangements before you set off. Never touch the walls, which are far more delicate than they look.
Morella is a small town of under three thousand people, but it has fuel and plenty of places to eat. Try flaó, a local custard tart, and the roasted lamb and truffles of the region. The market and the old convent of Sant Francesc are worth a wander. Further out, villages like Forcall and Cinctorres are tiny, so fill up in Morella before riding the high back roads.
For a motorcyclist, this is excellent country. The roads over the highlands rise and fall in long, open gradients, with curves through pine and oak woods, and the traffic is almost nonexistent. Winters are very cold, with snow and frost, and the high roads can be icy, while summers are warm but pleasant, with cool nights. Spring and autumn bring the best light, and the views from the ridges stretch out to the Maestrat hills.