La Saltadora is a painted shelter in the wild hills of the Castellón interior, near Albocàsser, in a landscape of ravines and stone terraces. It carries the number VII in the series of shelters in the area, and its paintings belong to the Levantine tradition: hunters, archers and animals, painted in red a very long time ago and now protected as part of the UNESCO listing of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin. The name, meaning the jumper, suggests a leaping figure, a deer or a goat, but you will have to judge for yourself once you are standing in front of it.
Do not expect to ride straight up to the shelter. The approach is on foot and the site is a protected one, so respect the paths and any fencing. A short walk in the quiet of the ravine, with pines creaking overhead and cicadas in the heat, is already a good reason to be here.
Albocàsser, with fourteen hundred inhabitants, is the nearest village, and Cuevas de Vinromà, a bit larger at nearly two thousand, lies to the south. Neither is a refuelling stop. Alcalà de Xivert, with around six and a half thousand people, is the place to count on for a petrol station, and it is about sixteen kilometres away as the crow flies, rather more by road. Plan accordingly.
The roads here are ideal for a day in the country. They run between orchards of almond and olive, over low passes, and along the sides of dry valleys where limestone cliffs stand like fortress walls. The corners are mostly open and flowing, with a few tighter ones near the villages, and you should expect gravel and the odd goat. The Maestrat is not busy, and a Tuesday morning in April will leave you with whole kilometres to yourself.
The heat of high summer is hard on riders and walkers, so aim for spring or autumn. Autumn brings a gentle sun and the first mushrooms in the woods.