The upper valley of the Guadalope in Teruel is a place where limestone has been folded, cut and carved into an extraordinary array of shapes: cliffs, gorges, natural arches and pinnacles, with the river winding between them in places of startling green. Near Castellote, the painted shelter labelled Las Rozas I is one of the sites of Levantine rock art listed by UNESCO. Its figures are faint and fragile, but they speak of people who hunted deer and ibex in these same valleys thousands of years ago.
Castellote itself is a striking village of a few hundred inhabitants, built on the side of a crag beneath the ruins of a Templar castle, with stone houses, arcades and a large church. Below it, the Guadalope has been dammed into a long reservoir held between cliffs, where the water takes on a deep jade colour in summer. The Maestrazgo, the historic region to the south and east, was a stronghold of the military orders in the Middle Ages and later a centre of the Carlist wars in the nineteenth century, and its villages still carry that history in their castles, walls and porticoed squares.
For riders, the roads of the Maestrazgo are a joy, with an abundance of curves, gorges and high plateaus, and often the road to yourself. Routes link Castellote with Molinos, Ejulve and Aliaga, crossing passes at over a thousand metres, while others descend through the Guadalope gorges towards Mas de las Matas and Alcañiz. Expect varying surfaces, occasional gravel, livestock and wildlife, and be aware that winters can be cold and icy, while summer storms can be violent.
Fuel is the main concern, as there are few stations in this sparsely populated region. Fill up in Andorra de Teruel, Alcañiz or one of the larger villages when you can. Castellote has bars and restaurants serving local dishes such as roast lamb, crespillos, fried borage leaves dusted with sugar, and the cured ham of Teruel. Stay overnight if you can, as the night skies here are some of the darkest in Spain.