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.
From Benassal it runs 253 km to Benassal; allow about 5 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera, Galeria del Roure, Abric de la Tenalla and back through Galeria del Roure. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,100 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abric de les Dogues
Benassal sits on a high shelf of the Alt Maestrat, over seven hundred metres up, and the cool, clear air has long made it a summer retreat from the coastal heat. The town has a spa tradition, with springs whose water is bottled and sold across the region, and a medieval centre of stone arcades and Gothic doorways that can stand a slow walk. The Abric de les Dogues, about two and a half kilometres away, is one of the painted shelters scattered through these hills, with Levantine art that UNESCO lists among the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de les Dogues is where the day begins. Next is Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera.
2. Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera
The Maestrat is a quiet corner of Castellón, a country of dry-stone walls, almond groves and villages built on knolls, and the ravines that cut through it hide shelters painted with scenes from the Mesolithic and Neolithic. The Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera belongs to the Levantine rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, a tradition inscribed by UNESCO in 1998, and it lies in the hills above Albocàsser, near the little towns of Catí and Les Coves de Vinromà. The best-known cluster, the Valltorta gorge, lies not far away, with a museum at Tírig that explains the art and gives access to some sites.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Galeria del Roure.
3. Galeria del Roure
Morella rises from the plateau of the Ports like something from a dream: a walled town wrapped around a rocky hill, crowned by a castle, with the Gothic basilica of Santa María la Mayor in the middle, and two kilometres of medieval walls with towers and gates running around the base. It is one of the most impressive historic towns in Spain, and the Galeria del Roure, a rock shelter about four kilometres away, is part of the cluster of prehistoric sites around Morella, including Morella la Vella, one of the important rock-art sites of the Valencian region, all part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The shelters are small and some are protected, so ask at the tourist office in town about visits.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Galeria del Roure. Next is Abric de la Tenalla.
4. Abric de la Tenalla
The Tinença de Benifassà is one of the wildest corners of the Valencian region, a cluster of tiny villages in the mountains where Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon meet, and the Abric de la Tenalla lies on its southeastern edge, near Rosell. It is one of the many rock shelters in this area with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and the nearby Serra de Godall and the Ulldecona shelters to the east are among the most important sites in Catalonia. The landscape is dramatic: limestone cliffs, deep gorges, pine and holm oak forests, and abandoned terraces where shepherds once grazed their flocks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de les Dogues closes the day.
Leg by leg
Abric de les Dogues to Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera
Abric de les Dogues → Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera to Galeria del Roure
Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera → Galeria del Roure is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Galeria del Roure to Abric de la Tenalla
Galeria del Roure → Abric de la Tenalla is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Tenalla to back through Galeria del Roure
Abric de la Tenalla → back through Galeria del Roure is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Galeria del Roure to back through Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera
back through Galeria del Roure → back through Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera to Abric de les Dogues
back through Abric del Barranc d'en Cabrera → Abric de les Dogues is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.