Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d and Peñón de Santo Espíritu
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
523 km
Riding-time estimate
11 h 20
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Tronchón it runs 523 km to Tronchón; allow about 11 h 20 of riding. The stops in between: Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla, Cova de Gargán, Castell de Villafamés and Peñón de Santo Espíritu. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 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 del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d
The Guadalope river cuts a deep canyon through the limestone of the Maestrazgo in eastern Teruel, and the Abrigo del Arenal de la Fonseca lies in this wild country near the hamlet of Ladruñán, between the villages of Castellote and Cantavieja. It is one of the important rock-art shelters of Aragon, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean prehistoric art, with Levantine paintings of animals and human figures in red pigment on the rock. The setting is spectacular: a narrow gorge with towering cliffs, the river flowing below, and pine and holm oak clinging to the slopes. Access involves a walk, and the paintings are protected by a fence.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d is where the day begins. Next is Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla.
2. Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla
This is high Maestrat country, where Castellón's mountains roll into Teruel's, and the small rock shelter called the Covatina del Tossalet del Mas de la Rambla belongs to a family of sites that UNESCO lists together as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Under overhangs like this one, hunters and early farmers painted small, lively figures in red and black: archers in mid-stride, deer and ibex, scenes of hunting and gathering. The style, called Levantine art, is unusual for its movement and its storytelling, and many of the shelters are tiny, fragile and kept behind fences. Access is often by guided visit only, so check with the local tourist office before you count on seeing the paintings.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cova de Gargán.
3. Cova de Gargán
High in the interior of Castellón, where the coastal orange groves are long forgotten and the land climbs toward the Penyagolosa massif, the shelter known as Cova de Gargán sits in a country of limestone ledges, holm oak and dry-stone terraces. Vistabella del Maestrazgo is the nearest village, a handful of kilometres away on its high plateau, with Villahermosa del Río down in its valley to the other side and Lucena del Cid a little further south. It is quiet up here in a way that the coast never is.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 148 km into the recorded legs you reach Cova de Gargán. Next is Castell de Villafamés.
4. Castell de Villafamés
Villafamés announces itself from a long way off: a village of white and ochre houses stacked up a hill of reddish rock, with the remains of a castle crowning the top. It stands a little inland from the coast of Castellón, roughly between Borriol, Cabanes and the beach town of Benicàssim, close enough to the sea that you can smell salt on a westerly breeze turning, yet already in that rumpled hill country that leads up into the Maestrat.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castell de Villafamés, about halfway. Next is Peñón de Santo Espíritu.
5. Peñón de Santo Espíritu
Behind the orange groves of the Camp de Morvedre, a few kilometres inland from Sagunto, the land rises into the Sierra Calderona, a low range of pine woods, scrub and red sandstone that separates the coastal plain from the dry interior. The Peñón de Santo Espíritu is a rocky outcrop in these hills above the village of Gilet, and it carries prehistoric rock art in the Levantine tradition, the style of painted hunters, animals and human figures found in shelters along the Mediterranean side of Spain and listed by UNESCO as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The paintings are fragile and often protected, so do not expect to wander up and touch anything.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 523 km.
Leg by leg
Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d to Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla
Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d → Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla to Cova de Gargán
Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla → Cova de Gargán is 86 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova de Gargán to Castell de Villafamés
Cova de Gargán → Castell de Villafamés is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castell de Villafamés to Peñón de Santo Espíritu
Castell de Villafamés → Peñón de Santo Espíritu is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Peñón de Santo Espíritu to back through Castell de Villafamés
Peñón de Santo Espíritu → back through Castell de Villafamés is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Castell de Villafamés to back through Cova de Gargán
back through Castell de Villafamés → back through Cova de Gargán is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cova de Gargán to back through Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla
back through Cova de Gargán → back through Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla to Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d
back through Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla → Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.