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.
A 442 km round trip from Valdeltormo - roughly 8 h 26 in the saddle. The stops in between: La fenellosa, Abric del mas dels Ous, Abric del.mas Blanc and Cova de Gargán. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
The Matarraña, or Matarranya as most locals call it, is the corner of Aragón that feels Catalan, Valencian and Aragonese at once, and it has quietly become one of the most rewarding regions in Spain to explore on two wheels. The shelter known as Caídas del Salbimec lies in the hills between Valdeltormo, Mazaleón and Calaceite, one of the many prehistoric art sites along the eastern edge of the peninsula that are protected together by UNESCO. The paintings are modest, and access may involve a rough track and a walk, but the setting is typical of the region: a sandstone outcrop above olive groves and almond terraces, with the river cutting below.
Read the complete Caídas del Salbimec write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caídas del Salbimec is where the day begins. Next is La fenellosa.
People in Aragón like to call the Matarraña their Tuscany, and for once the comparison is not entirely marketing. It is a comarca of honey-coloured stone villages on hilltops, olive groves on terraces, almond trees and vineyards, with the limestone wall of the Ports de Beseit rising behind. La Fenellosa lies in this country, between Valderrobres, Fuentespalda and Mas de Barberans across the Catalan line, in the rough hills where the farmland gives way to the mountains.
Read the complete La fenellosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
La fenellosa comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del mas dels Ous.
Xert is the kind of village you pass through on the way to somewhere else and then wonder why you did not stop. It lies in the Baix Maestrat in northern Castellón, below a ridge of bare limestone, with the old village climbing the slope and a newer part down by the road. The shelter called the Abric del Mas dels Ous, the shelter of the farmhouse of the eggs, is out in the dry hills nearby, between Xert, Canet lo Roig and Rosell.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 135 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del mas dels Ous. Next is Abric del.mas Blanc, 36 km on.
Benassal is a stone village on a high plateau in the Alt Maestrat, in the interior of Castellón, at around eight hundred metres above sea level, and it is known throughout the region for its spring water, the Font d'en Segures, which is bottled and sold across Spain. The Abric del Mas Blanc, the shelter of the white farmhouse, is one of the many rock-art sites in the area, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean prehistoric art. The nearby Valltorta gorge, about twenty kilometres to the east, has some of the most famous Levantine paintings, including dramatic hunting scenes, and the Valltorta museum in Tírig is the best place to learn about them.
Read the complete Abric del.mas Blanc write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric del.mas Blanc, about halfway. Next is Cova de Gargán.
High in the interior of Castellón, where the coastal orange groves are long forgotten and the land climbs toward the Penyagolosa massif, the shelter known as Cova de Gargán sits in a country of limestone ledges, holm oak and dry-stone terraces. Vistabella del Maestrazgo is the nearest village, a handful of kilometres away on its high plateau, with Villahermosa del Río down in its valley to the other side and Lucena del Cid a little further south. It is quiet up here in a way that the coast never is.
Read the complete Cova de Gargán write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cova de Gargán sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric del.mas Blanc, 35 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del.mas Blanc write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abric del.mas Blanc comes up about 273 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric del mas dels Ous.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 310 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric del mas dels Ous. Next is back through La fenellosa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La fenellosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through La fenellosa, late in the day. Next is Caídas del Salbimec.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caídas del Salbimec write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 442 km.
Caídas del Salbimec → La fenellosa is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La fenellosa → Abric del mas dels Ous is 92 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas dels Ous → Abric del.mas Blanc is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del.mas Blanc → Cova de Gargán is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova de Gargán → back through Abric del.mas Blanc is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del.mas Blanc → back through Abric del mas dels Ous is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas dels Ous → back through La fenellosa is 92 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La fenellosa → Caídas del Salbimec is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.