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.
A 296 km round trip from Letur - roughly 7 h 23 in the saddle. The stops in between: Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo, 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. Barranco Segovia
The Río Mundo is the Segura's most dramatic tributary, and it rises from a cave, the Cueva de los Chorros, near Riópar in the mountains of Albacete, in a burst of white water that bursts from the rock. By the time it passes Letur, thirty or so kilometres downstream, it has become a calm, green river in a steep-sided valley. The Barranco Segovia is a dry ravine on the south side of this area, some twelve kilometres from Letur and thirteen from Socovos, and the shelter named after it forms part of the rock art of the Mediterranean arc, protected by UNESCO since 1998. Its neighbours on the route, the Cueva de la Plata and the Cueva del Gitano, are in the same district.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranco Segovia is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo.
2. 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
Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo comes up about 42 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 97 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranco Segovia closes the day.
Leg by leg
Barranco Segovia to Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo
Barranco Segovia → Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo to Abrigo del Engarbo
Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo → Abrigo del Engarbo is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Engarbo to Letreros de los mártires
Abrigo del Engarbo → Letreros de los mártires is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Letreros de los mártires to back through Abrigo del Engarbo
Letreros de los mártires → back through Abrigo del Engarbo is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Engarbo to back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo
back through Abrigo del Engarbo → back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo to Barranco Segovia
back through Abrigo de la Rambla de Pedro Izquierdo → Barranco Segovia is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.