CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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 Nerpio it runs 209 km to Nerpio; allow about 4 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Fuente del Sabuco I, Benizar V, Cueva de las Palamas and back through Benizar V. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Far inland in the south-east of Spain, in the folded highlands of the Sierra de Segura, there is a small village called Nerpio, and around it cliffs hold some of the most remarkable prehistoric paintings in Europe. Jutia is one of several shelters here, the overhangs where hunter-gatherers painted red figures of animals and people thousands of years ago. This is Levantine rock art, a tradition that runs along the Mediterranean side of the Iberian peninsula and is protected as a World Heritage group. Many of the shelters are fenced and some are reached only on foot, so check access before you go.
Read the complete Albrigo de Jutia II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Albrigo de Jutia II is where the day begins. Next is 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.
Read the complete Fuente del Sabuco I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fuente del Sabuco I comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Benizar V.
Benizar is one of those places that only a handful of maps bother to name. It is a hamlet belonging to Moratalla, in the hilly north-west of the Murcia region, close to where the province meets Albacete and the first ridges of the Sierra de Segura begin. Around it, in the rock faces and gullies, archaeologists have recorded a cluster of painted shelters, and Benizar V is one in this series: a stone overhang with faint prehistoric figures, part of the Levantine rock art that runs along Spain's eastern mountains.
Read the complete Benizar V write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Benizar V. Next is Cueva de las Palamas.
Cehegín, in the north-west of the Murcia region, is a town of two faces: a modern lower town, and an old town on a hill, with steep streets, noble houses and churches, declared a historic site. The Cueva de las Palomas, the cave of the doves, lies on the edge of the town, less than a kilometre from the centre, with the larger town of Caravaca de la Cruz about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de las Palamas, about halfway. Next is back through Benizar V.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Benizar V write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Benizar V sits at 117 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fuente del Sabuco I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fuente del Sabuco I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fuente del Sabuco I comes up about 180 km into the recorded legs. Next is Albrigo de Jutia II.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Albrigo de Jutia II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Albrigo de Jutia II closes the day.
Albrigo de Jutia II → Fuente del Sabuco I is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuente del Sabuco I → Benizar V is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Benizar V → Cueva de las Palamas is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Palamas → back through Benizar V is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Benizar V → 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 → Albrigo de Jutia II is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.