Abric del Cinto de la Ventana and Abric de Tortosillas
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
349 km
Riding-time estimate
11 h 36
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.
A 349 km round trip from Millares - roughly 11 h 36 in the saddle. The stops in between: Abric del Voro, Peñon de los machos, Abric de Tortosillas and back through Peñon de los machos. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abric del Cinto de la Ventana
South-west of Valencia the Júcar river has carved a long, winding gorge through the limestone, and the country on either side is some of the most rugged in the region. The Macizo del Caroig, a high limestone massif of pine and scrub, rises to more than eleven hundred metres, and the villages of Millares and Dos Aguas are small places tucked into the valleys at its foot. The Abric del Cinto de la Ventana is a rock shelter in the nearby cliffs, and belongs to the Mediterranean Basin rock art group listed by UNESCO in 1998, the red Levantine paintings painted by prehistoric hunters.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del Cinto de la Ventana is where the day begins. Next is Abric del Voro.
2. Abric del Voro
The Canal de Navarrés is a wide valley in the interior of Valencia province, surrounded by limestone mountains and deep gorges, and the Abric del Voro lies in the hills between Quesa and Bicorp, two small villages in the heart of some of the wildest country in the region. It is one of the many rock shelters with prehistoric paintings in the area, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The valley's most famous site is close by: the Cuevas de la Araña near Bicorp, where a painting of a figure climbing ropes to collect honey from a wild bees' nest, surrounded by bees, is one of the best-known images of prehistoric art in Spain, often cited as one of the earliest depictions of honey gathering.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del Voro comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Peñon de los machos.
3. Peñon de los machos
Cofrentes is a village at the confluence of two rivers, the Júcar and the Cabriel, in the interior of Valencia province, and it has a curious mix of attractions. Above it stands a castle on a crag. Nearby rises the Cerro de Agrás, the only recently active volcano in the Valencian Community, a dark cone of basalt in a landscape of limestone. And just outside the village, the cooling towers of the Cofrentes nuclear power station send plumes of steam into the sky. The Peñón de los Machos, a rocky outcrop with painted shelters, lies in the hills between Cofrentes, Jalance and Jarafuel.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach Peñon de los machos. Next is Abric de Tortosillas.
4. Abric de Tortosillas
The Abric de Tortosillas lies in the mountains near Ayora, in the inland valley of Ayora-Cofrentes in Valencia, and its paintings of human figures and animals are part of the rich rock art of this region, part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin listing. Nearby, at Alpera in Albacete province, the Cueva de la Vieja holds one of the most famous Levantine panels, with dozens of figures, archers, deer and goats, and an interpretation centre in the village. The landscape here is dry and mountainous, with pine forests, cliffs and the valley of the Júcar river.