Abrigo de la fuente del Sapo and Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
394 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 02
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.
From Nerpio it runs 394 km to Nerpio; allow about 8 h 02 of riding. The stops in between: Abrigo del molino de Bagil, Cueva de las Palamas, Cueva de los Pucheros and Abrigo del Canto Blanco. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 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. Abrigo de la fuente del Sapo
Nerpio sits high in the Sierra del Segura, in the southwest of Albacete, about eleven hundred metres up, and it feels like an outpost of the Andalusian mountains that happens to be in Castile-La Mancha. The village is small, with roughly sixteen hundred people, and the countryside around is a deep, rumpled landscape of pine forest, rock outcrops and tiny cultivated valleys. More than forty rock shelters with paintings have been found in the area, making Nerpio one of the richest places for prehistoric art in Spain, with paintings in red showing animals, hunters and abstract signs.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo de la fuente del Sapo is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo del molino de Bagil.
2. Abrigo del molino de Bagil
The northwest of Murcia is a world away from the coastal resorts. Around Moratalla, the land rises into the mountains that form the southern edge of the Sierra de Segura, a rugged country of pine forests, deep river valleys, terraced hillsides and white villages perched on rocks. The Abrigo del Molino de Bagil is one of the many rock shelters in this area that contain prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. Moratalla and its neighbours have an especially rich collection, with scenes of hunters, archers and animals painted in the Levantine style thousands of years ago. Many shelters are protected by fences, and visits are possible only with guides or by arrangement.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo del molino de Bagil comes up about 54 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de las Palamas.
3. Cueva de las Palamas
Cehegín, in the north-west of the Murcia region, is a town of two faces: a modern lower town, and an old town on a hill, with steep streets, noble houses and churches, declared a historic site. The Cueva de las Palomas, the cave of the doves, lies on the edge of the town, less than a kilometre from the centre, with the larger town of Caravaca de la Cruz about five kilometres away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 112 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de las Palamas. Next is Cueva de los Pucheros.
4. Cueva de los Pucheros
North-west of Cieza, the Segura river cuts through a dry landscape of limestone ridges, almond and fruit orchards, and rice fields that look out of place in arid Murcia. The Cueva de los Pucheros, a rock shelter in these hills between Cieza and Calasparra, is one of the many sites in the region holding prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like most of these shelters, it is fragile and often protected by a fence, and access may require a guided visit arranged through the local authorities.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de los Pucheros, about halfway. Next is Abrigo del Canto Blanco.
5. Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Jumilla is wine country, and you know it as soon as you arrive. The town sits in the north of the Murcia region, surrounded by a high, dry plateau of vineyards growing the Monastrell grape, which produces powerful, dark red wines. A castle tops the hill above the old town, and the bodegas on its outskirts welcome visitors. The Abrigo del Canto Blanco, the shelter of the white stone, lies in the hills about five kilometres away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 394 km.
Leg by leg
Abrigo de la fuente del Sapo to Abrigo del molino de Bagil
Abrigo de la fuente del Sapo → Abrigo del molino de Bagil is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del molino de Bagil to Cueva de las Palamas
Abrigo del molino de Bagil → Cueva de las Palamas is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Palamas to Cueva de los Pucheros
Cueva de las Palamas → Cueva de los Pucheros is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de los Pucheros to Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Cueva de los Pucheros → Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Canto Blanco to back through Cueva de los Pucheros
Abrigo del Canto Blanco → back through Cueva de los Pucheros is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de los Pucheros to back through Cueva de las Palamas
back through Cueva de los Pucheros → back through Cueva de las Palamas is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de las Palamas to back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil
back through Cueva de las Palamas → back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil to Abrigo de la fuente del Sapo
back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil → Abrigo de la fuente del Sapo is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.