Why this ride
A 507 km round trip from Ulldecona - roughly 11 h 39 in the saddle. On the way it passes Prop de la Cova Pintada, Cabra feixet, Roca dels moros and Valcomuna. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric d'Ermites V and Valcomuna
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 507 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 11 h 39
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abric d'Ermites V
The Hospitallers once held Ulldecona, the knightly order that grew out of a hospital for pilgrims in Jerusalem and ended up with castles all over southern Catalonia. The town still has the look of a fortified place, with a tall church, narrow lanes and the remains of a castle on the hill, and the shelter at Abric d'Ermites V lies about four and a half kilometres from it, on the slopes of the Serra de Godall, where a hermitage stands among the pines. The paintings in the Abrics de l'Ermita belong to the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. Neighbouring sites are known as Valmayor and La Fenellosa, and they appear on the same rides.
Read the complete Abric d'Ermites V write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric d'Ermites V is where the day begins. Next is Prop de la Cova Pintada.
2. Prop de la Cova Pintada
The Ports massif rises abruptly at the meeting point of Catalonia, Aragón and Valencia, a tangle of limestone peaks, deep gorges and pine forest that feels surprisingly wild given how close it is to the Ebro delta and the coast. Prop de la Cova Pintada, meaning near the painted cave, sits on its southern side, between Mas de Barberans, Valderrobres and the old city of Tortosa.
Read the complete Prop de la Cova Pintada write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Prop de la Cova Pintada comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cabra feixet.
3. Cabra feixet
El Perelló is a hill village on the old coast road between Tarragona and Tortosa, and it is famous for honey. Bees have been kept on these scrubby limestone slopes for centuries, feeding on rosemary, thyme and wild flowers, and every winter the village holds a honey fair that draws visitors from across Catalonia. In the hills around, sheltered under an overhang, is the rock art of Cabra Feixet, part of the Levantine paintings of eastern Spain inscribed together by UNESCO. The figures are small and faded, and the site is best visited with a guide or after asking at the village; please do not touch the rock.
Read the complete Cabra feixet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach Cabra feixet. Next is Roca dels moros.
4. Roca dels moros
In 1903, a young man from Calaceite named Juan Cabré, who would go on to become one of Spain's pioneering archaeologists, found painted figures of deer and other animals in a rock shelter in the Calapatá ravine, between Calaceite and Cretas. The Roca dels Moros became one of the first sites of Levantine rock art identified in Spain, and it helped open up a whole new field of study. Today it is part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and a visit here is a small pilgrimage to the beginnings of that story.
Read the complete Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roca dels moros, about halfway. Next is Valcomuna.
5. Valcomuna
Lower Aragon is a country of dry hills, olive groves and red earth, and in its ravines people painted on the rock thousands of years ago. Valcomuna is one of those rock art sites, between Alcañiz and Caspe near the village of Maella, part of the great family of painted shelters running down Spain's Mediterranean side that UNESCO listed as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The figures in this tradition are small and lively, archers, deer, goats and people in motion, painted in red and black under overhangs where the weather could not wash them away.
Read the complete Valcomuna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valcomuna sits at 156 km, about halfway. Next is back through Roca dels moros.
6. back through Roca dels moros
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Roca dels moros comes up about 314 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cabra feixet.
7. back through Cabra feixet
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cabra feixet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 389 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cabra feixet. Next is back through Prop de la Cova Pintada.
8. back through Prop de la Cova Pintada
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Prop de la Cova Pintada write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Prop de la Cova Pintada, late in the day. Next is Abric d'Ermites V.
9. Abric d'Ermites V
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric d'Ermites V write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 507 km.
Leg by leg
Abric d'Ermites V to Prop de la Cova Pintada
Abric d'Ermites V → Prop de la Cova Pintada is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Prop de la Cova Pintada to Cabra feixet
Prop de la Cova Pintada → Cabra feixet is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cabra feixet to Roca dels moros
Cabra feixet → Roca dels moros is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roca dels moros to Valcomuna
Roca dels moros → Valcomuna is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valcomuna to back through Roca dels moros
Valcomuna → back through Roca dels moros is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roca dels moros to back through Cabra feixet
back through Roca dels moros → back through Cabra feixet is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cabra feixet to back through Prop de la Cova Pintada
back through Cabra feixet → back through Prop de la Cova Pintada is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Prop de la Cova Pintada to Abric d'Ermites V
back through Prop de la Cova Pintada → Abric d'Ermites V is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
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