Why this ride
A 327 km round trip from Alcañiz - roughly 8 h 03 in the saddle. The stops in between: Val del Charco del Agua Amarga, Punta del Alcañizano, Valcomuna and Els Secans.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric del mas de Barberà and Els Secans
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 327 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 03
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 del mas de Barberà
Alcañiz is the capital of the Bajo Aragón, a region of olive groves, cereal fields and dry hills crossed by the Guadalope river in the south-east of Aragón. The town is crowned by a castle built for the Order of Calatrava, now a parador, and its main square, with a Gothic loggia and the town hall, is one of the finest in the region. The shelter of the Mas de Barberà lies in the hills just outside town, toward Castelserás and Calanda.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del mas de Barberà is where the day begins. Next is Val del Charco del Agua Amarga.
2. Val del Charco del Agua Amarga
Around ten kilometres from Alcañiz, in a dry ravine among olive groves and limestone ledges, a rock shelter holds one of the most celebrated scenes of Levantine rock art in Spain. The paintings at Val del Charco del Agua Amarga show archers in motion, hunting and perhaps fighting, their thin bodies drawn with a few confident strokes in red. Many experts consider it one of the finest examples in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art, and seeing it, even protected behind a fence, gives a real jolt of connection to people who lived here several thousand years ago.
Read the complete Val del Charco del Agua Amarga write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Val del Charco del Agua Amarga comes up 20 km in. Next is Punta del Alcañizano.
3. Punta del Alcañizano
Bajo Aragón has the look of a country that works for a living. Olive trees climb the terraces in tidy grey-green rows, almond orchards fill the gaps, and every village seems to own a mill or a cooperative that presses oil under a protected regional name. The Punta del Alcañizano sits in the rolling hills of the Matarraña district, near Valdeltormo and Mazaleón, two villages of a few hundred people each, on the southern edge of Aragón where the land begins to tilt toward Catalonia and the Ebro.
Read the complete Punta del Alcañizano write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
41 km in you reach Punta del Alcañizano. Next is Valcomuna.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Els Secans.
5. Els Secans
The lower Matarraña, in the far east of Aragón, is a drier, emptier country than the green upper valley. Here, the river flows through low hills of sandstone and limestone, with olive groves, almond trees and cereal fields, and the villages stand on hilltops, built of golden stone. Mazaleón is one of them, a small village above the river, with Maella and Calaceite nearby. Els Secans, a name meaning the dry lands, is a shelter with prehistoric paintings in the hills just outside the village.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Els Secans sits at 82 km, about halfway. Next is back through Valcomuna.
6. back through Valcomuna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Valcomuna comes up 102 km in. Next is back through Punta del Alcañizano.
7. back through Punta del Alcañizano
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Punta del Alcañizano write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
122 km in you reach back through Punta del Alcañizano. Next is back through Val del Charco del Agua Amarga.
8. back through Val del Charco del Agua Amarga
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Val del Charco del Agua Amarga write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Val del Charco del Agua Amarga, late in the day. Next is Abric del mas de Barberà.
9. Abric del mas de Barberà
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà 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 327 km.
Leg by leg
Abric del mas de Barberà to Val del Charco del Agua Amarga
Abric del mas de Barberà → Val del Charco del Agua Amarga is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Val del Charco del Agua Amarga to Punta del Alcañizano
Val del Charco del Agua Amarga → Punta del Alcañizano is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Punta del Alcañizano to Valcomuna
Punta del Alcañizano → Valcomuna is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valcomuna to Els Secans
Valcomuna → Els Secans is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Els Secans to back through Valcomuna
Els Secans → back through Valcomuna is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Valcomuna to back through Punta del Alcañizano
back through Valcomuna → back through Punta del Alcañizano is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Punta del Alcañizano to back through Val del Charco del Agua Amarga
back through Punta del Alcañizano → back through Val del Charco del Agua Amarga is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Val del Charco del Agua Amarga to Abric del mas de Barberà
back through Val del Charco del Agua Amarga → Abric del mas de Barberà is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.