Pla de Petracos is one of the most important prehistoric art sites in Spain, and it looks like nothing much: a row of shallow shelters in the side of a ravine near Castell de Castells, in the high interior of the Marina Alta. What makes it special is the style. The paintings here are among the clearest examples of what archaeologists call Macroschematic art, large, bold, almost abstract human figures with raised arms and serpentine forms, painted by the first farming communities of the region in the early Neolithic. Elsewhere in the Valencian mountains you find Levantine hunting scenes; here you find something stranger and more symbolic. A short path and viewing platforms make the panels accessible, and the information boards help you see what the eye misses at first.
Castell de Castells itself is a small, sober village of a few hundred people in a high valley ringed by mountains. It feels a long way from the coast even though Calp and Benidorm are less than an hour away. Above it rises the Serra de la Serrella, and near the summit ridge of the Bernia, to the south, a natural tunnel pierces the rock, a classic walk if you carry boots.
Getting here is the fun part. The roads that thread through the Vall de Pop, the Vall d'Ebo and up from Benigembla follow the contours in endless loops, narrow and patched in places, with sheer drops and goats occasionally standing in the middle like they own the deeds. You will need to concentrate, and you will rarely get out of third gear, but the scenery of terraced ridges, crags and deep blue sky is relentless. On a weekday you may meet more cyclists than cars.
This is dry country with little shade. In summer, ride early, visit the shelters in the morning, and be somewhere cool by midday. In winter, when snow occasionally dusts the peaks, the light is so clear you can pick out individual trees on the ridges.
The village has a bar or two and sometimes a small shop, but do not count on fuel. Pego, about eleven kilometres as the crow flies but much longer by road, is the nearest reliable place to fill up, and the towns of the Jalón valley are the other choice before you climb into the mountains.