Why this ride
A 269 km round trip from Alfafara - roughly 5 h 53 in the saddle. On the way it passes Coveta del mig- Abric I, Coves Roges- Abric I, Barranc de Beniali- Abric l and Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I and Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 269 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 53
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I
The painted shelter of Barranc d'Alpadull sits in the folds of the Serra de Mariola, the limestone massif that rises between Bocairent, Alfafara and Agres in the inland corner where Valencia, Alicante and the old kingdom's hill country all meet. It is one of the many small overhangs in eastern Spain that carry Levantine rock art, the group of sites inscribed together by UNESCO as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. Do not expect a museum. These are faint, reddish figures under a lip of stone, usually fenced, often hard to read unless the light is low and raking, and part of the pleasure is simply knowing that hunters drew here thousands of years before anyone thought of building a road up this valley.
Read the complete Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I is where the day begins. Next is Coveta del mig- Abric I.
2. Coveta del mig- Abric I
Otos is a tiny village in the Vall d'Albaida, in the south of Valencia province, and it has an unusual claim to fame: its walls are decorated with dozens of sundials, designed by artists and scattered through the streets, making the village a kind of open-air museum of time. Nearby, in the hills around Otos, Bèlgida and Ráfol de Salem, prehistoric people left paintings in rock shelters, and the Coveta del Mig is one of the sites included in the World Heritage site of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. The art here includes schematic figures, simplified human and animal forms, and the area is part of a rich zone of rock art that extends into the mountains of the Alicante province to the south.
Read the complete Coveta del mig- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coveta del mig- Abric I comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Coves Roges- Abric I.
3. Coves Roges- Abric I
Planes looks like a village that has been arguing with gravity for a thousand years and winning. Its houses climb a hill crowned by the remains of a Moorish castle, and the whole place overlooks a valley of olive and almond terraces that falls toward the Beniarrés reservoir. The Coves Roges, the red caves, lie in the broken limestone country around here, and the first of their shelters carries prehistoric paintings, part of the scattered rock art of the Valencian mountains. The colour in the name is not poetry: the rock itself is stained a warm iron red.
Read the complete Coves Roges- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Coves Roges- Abric I. Next is Barranc de Beniali- Abric l.
4. Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
The Vall de Gallinera is one of those valleys that seems to exist slightly outside time. Running east to west in the mountains of northern Alicante, it holds eight tiny villages strung along a single road, terraced slopes of cherry trees, and above them limestone ridges cut by steep ravines. The Barranc de Beniali is one of those ravines, and in a shelter on its walls prehistoric people painted figures that are now part of the World Heritage site of Levantine rock art. The valley next door, the Vall d'Ebo, is just as wild, and its Cova del Rull is a show cave full of stalactites.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l, about halfway. Next is Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners.
5. Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Somewhere up in these limestone folds, thousands of years ago, someone painted little figures on the rock that are still there. The Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is one of many painted shelters in the Marina Alta, the north-eastern corner of the province of Alicante, which form part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The shelters hold Levantine, Schematic and older Macroschematic paintings, showing hunters, animals and abstract shapes, and many are protected by fences and only visitable with a guide. The valleys around Murla, Orba and Tormos are full of them.
Read the complete Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners sits at 70 km, about halfway. Next is back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l.
6. back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l comes up about 164 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Coves Roges- Abric I.
7. back through Coves Roges- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coves Roges- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 195 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Coves Roges- Abric I. Next is back through Coveta del mig- Abric I.
8. back through Coveta del mig- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coveta del mig- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Coveta del mig- Abric I, late in the day. Next is Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I.
9. Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 269 km.
Leg by leg
Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I to Coveta del mig- Abric I
Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I → Coveta del mig- Abric I is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coveta del mig- Abric I to Coves Roges- Abric I
Coveta del mig- Abric I → Coves Roges- Abric I is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coves Roges- Abric I to Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Coves Roges- Abric I → Barranc de Beniali- Abric l is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l to Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l → Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners to back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners → back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l to back through Coves Roges- Abric I
back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l → back through Coves Roges- Abric I is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Coves Roges- Abric I to back through Coveta del mig- Abric I
back through Coves Roges- Abric I → back through Coveta del mig- Abric I is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Coveta del mig- Abric I to Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I
back through Coveta del mig- Abric I → Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.