Abrigo del Ciervo and Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
343 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 41
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 Albarracín it runs 343 km to Albarracín; allow about 5 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of Castellón de los machos, Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano and back through Castellón de los machos. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 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 Ciervo
The Sierra de Albarracín is big sky country. At over a thousand metres, the plateau is cold in winter and bright in summer, with pine forest, juniper and limestone outcrops, and a population so thin that you can drive for half an hour without meeting a house. Abrigo del Ciervo, the Shelter of the Deer, lies four kilometres from the town of Albarracín, in the sandstone landscape of the Rodeno, and its name suggests that the animal was an important one for those who painted here. The group of Levantine rock art sites in this area is part of the Mediterranean Basin rock art that UNESCO listed in 1998.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo del Ciervo is where the day begins. Next is Castellón de los machos.
2. Castellón de los machos
High in the Serranía de Cuenca, among pine woods and sandstone outcrops near the village of Villar del Humo, prehistoric hunters painted figures on the rock shelters thousands of years ago. The site called Castellón de los Machos is one of a cluster in this area that belongs to the vast UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula, which covers hundreds of painted shelters from Catalonia to Andalusia. The images here are small, reddish and stylised, and finding them takes patience and good eyes.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castellón de los machos comes up about 76 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano.
3. Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano
High in the interior of Valencia province, where the coastal orange groves give way to limestone plateaus and pine forest, the village of Titaguas sits on the road towards the Rincón de Ademuz. Close by lies the Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano, a rock shelter with prehistoric paintings, one of the hundreds of sites that make up the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, listed by UNESCO in 1998.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Abrigo del Ciervo. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Abrigo del Ciervo to Castellón de los machos
Abrigo del Ciervo → Castellón de los machos is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Castellón de los machos to Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano
Castellón de los machos → Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano to back through Castellón de los machos
Abric del Rincón del Tío Escribano → back through Castellón de los machos is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Castellón de los machos to Abrigo del Ciervo
back through Castellón de los machos → Abrigo del Ciervo is 93 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.