Abrigo del molino de Bagil and Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
181 km
Riding-time estimate
4 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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 181 km round trip from Socovos - roughly 4 h 02 in the saddle. On the way it passes Fuente del Sabuco I, Abrigo de los Cerricos, Fuente del Sabuco II and Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Fuente del Sabuco I.
2. Fuente del Sabuco I
High in the Sierra del Taibilla, in the borderland hills between Moratalla and Nerpio, the shelters of Fuente del Sabuco hold Levantine paintings of hunters, archers and animals, part of the rich rock art of this remote corner where Andalusia, Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha meet. Nerpio and Moratalla between them hold a remarkable number of painted shelters, making this one of the key centres of rock art in Spain, and an interpretation centre in the village explains the paintings and organises visits. The shelter is part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin World Heritage listing.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fuente del Sabuco I comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo de los Cerricos.
3. Abrigo de los Cerricos
Above the Taibilla valley, Nerpio's higher ground belongs to goats, vultures and wind. The Abrigo de los Cerricos lies a couple of kilometres from the village, among the limestone crags and pine slopes of the Sierra de Taibilla, where the Spanish ibex clambers over the rocks and griffon vultures ride the thermals above. Rock shelters like this one hold some of the finest prehistoric paintings in the region, human figures and animals traced in red pigment, and they sit under World Heritage protection. Cerrico is a diminutive of cerro, a hill, so the name suggests a small rise in the ground.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo de los Cerricos. Next is Fuente del Sabuco II.
4. Fuente del Sabuco II
Sabuco is the old word for the elder tree, and a fuente is a spring, so this shelter is named for the water that makes the place possible: the Elder Spring. Fuente del Sabuco II lies about eleven kilometres from Nerpio in the high country of south-west Albacete, and it is one of the many shelters of this district that hold paintings. The ride also links it to a site called Diosa Madre, the Mother Goddess, a name given by archaeologists to a type of schematic figure that appears across the prehistoric art of the Iberian Peninsula. The Levantine art of the region is protected by UNESCO as part of the Mediterranean rock art of Spain.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fuente del Sabuco II, about halfway. Next is Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip.
5. Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip
Nerpio sits on a high plateau of the Sierra del Segura, in the south-west corner of Albacete province, at about a thousand metres above the sea, and the climate matches the height: hot dry summers, cold nights, and winters when snow arrives early. The Abrigo del Molino de Juan Basura lies less than two kilometres from the village in the valley of the Taibilla, and it is one of the sites that make Nerpio a name among specialists. In few other places in Spain can you find so many painted shelters within a short walk of a single village.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 181 km.
Leg by leg
Abrigo del molino de Bagil to Fuente del Sabuco I
Abrigo del molino de Bagil → Fuente del Sabuco I is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuente del Sabuco I to Abrigo de los Cerricos
Fuente del Sabuco I → Abrigo de los Cerricos is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de los Cerricos to Fuente del Sabuco II
Abrigo de los Cerricos → Fuente del Sabuco II is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuente del Sabuco II to Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip
Fuente del Sabuco II → Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip to back through Fuente del Sabuco II
Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip → back through Fuente del Sabuco II is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fuente del Sabuco II to back through Abrigo de los Cerricos
back through Fuente del Sabuco II → back through Abrigo de los Cerricos is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de los Cerricos to back through Fuente del Sabuco I
back through Abrigo de los Cerricos → back through Fuente del Sabuco I is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fuente del Sabuco I to Abrigo del molino de Bagil
back through Fuente del Sabuco I → Abrigo del molino de Bagil is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.