Abrigo del Engarbo and Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
204 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 21
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.
From Puebla de Don Fadrique it runs 204 km to Puebla de Don Fadrique; allow about 6 h 21 of riding. On the way it passes Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras, Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo, Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I and Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abrigo del Engarbo
Deep in the Sierra de Segura in the northeast of Jaén province, close to where the Segura river is born, the Engarbo rock shelters hide a few small painted figures under limestone overhangs. They belong to the great serial UNESCO listing of Levantine rock art, prehistoric paintings found along the mountains of eastern Spain, with stylised humans and animals in red ochre that have survived thousands of years of sun, frost and goats. The shelters are modest and fragile, often fenced, and visits usually need to be arranged locally, so treat them as a reason to explore this remote corner rather than a guaranteed sight.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo del Engarbo is where the day begins. Next is Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras.
2. Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras
The name means the stream of the foxes' spring, which is the kind of place name that only survives in country where people still walk. The ravines around Nerpio hold dozens of painted rock shelters, with Levantine and Schematic paintings of hunters, animals and symbols, and they form part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Visits to many of them need to be arranged through the local interpretation centre.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras comes up 17 km in. Next is Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo.
3. Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo
A rambla is a dry riverbed that only runs after storms, and the Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo is one of many that cut into the limestone hills around Nerpio, in the remote south-western corner of Albacete. In a rock shelter above it, prehistoric people left paintings in the Levantine style, small, lively figures of people and animals, and the site is one of the many shelters around Nerpio that belong to the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Visits are normally arranged through the village, and a guide will know which shelters are accessible and when the light is right for seeing the faded pigment.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
34 km in you reach Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo. Next is Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I.
4. Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I
Nerpio is about as far from anywhere as you can get in mainland Spain. The village sits in the southwestern corner of Albacete province, where Castilla-La Mancha meets Andalusia and Murcia, in the mountains of the Sierra de Segura, at the end of long, winding roads. It is known for its walnut trees, which line the valleys and give the village its pride, and for its rock art: the hills around are full of shelters with prehistoric paintings, and Nerpio is one of the most important centres for Levantine art in Spain. The Abrigo de la Fuente de Montañoz is one of these shelters, near a spring in the hills above the Taibilla river.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I, about halfway. Next is Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz.
5. Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz
The Collado de la Cruz is a saddle in the wild Sierra del Segura, in the south-west corner of Albacete province, and the shelter here belongs to one of the richest regions of prehistoric painting in Spain. Nerpio, the village about three and a half kilometres away, sits at over a thousand metres and is surrounded by dozens of rock-art sites, in both the Levantine style and the later schematic style, which uses simple dots, lines and stick-like figures. The Levantine paintings are protected by UNESCO as part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 204 km.
Leg by leg
Abrigo del Engarbo to Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras
Abrigo del Engarbo → Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras to Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo
Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras → Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo to Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I
Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo → Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I to Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz
Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I → Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz to back through Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I
Abrigo del Collado de la Cruz → back through Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I to back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo
back through Abrigo de la fuente de montañoz I → back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo to back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras
back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo → back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras to Abrigo del Engarbo
back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras → Abrigo del Engarbo is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.