Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip and Letreros de los mártires
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
332 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 43
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.
332 km from Nerpio to Nerpio, about 8 h 43 of riding. The stops in between: Diosa madre, Abrigo del Engarbo, Letreros de los mártires and back through Abrigo del Engarbo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Abrigo del molino Juan Basura o molina Cip is where the day begins. Next is Diosa madre.
2. Diosa madre
Some places on a map feel remote; this one actually is. The point named Diosa Madre, mother goddess, lies in the mountains of the Sierra de Segura, in the far southwest of Albacete province, roughly sixteen kilometres from Yeste and not far from the border with Jaén. The mountains themselves are the real experience.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Diosa madre comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del Engarbo.
3. 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
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo del Engarbo. Next is Letreros de los mártires.
4. Letreros de los mártires
Out in the high north-east of Granada province, Huéscar feels a long way from the Alhambra and the beaches of the Costa Tropical. This is the altiplano, a broad upland of wheat fields, almond trees and pale badlands at around a thousand metres, ringed by mountains, with the great limestone hump of La Sagra rising to the north. The rock shelter called Letreros de los Mártires lies in this country, a dozen or so kilometres from the town.