Skip to content
CurveScout

CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Canalejas de Abajo and Abrigo del Canto Blanco

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
355 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 02
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Nerpio it runs 355 km to Nerpio; allow about 7 h 02 of riding. It goes by way of Las Covachicas, Cueva de las Palamas, Cueva de los Pucheros and Abrigo del Canto Blanco. 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.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Canalejas de Abajo

    Canalejas de Abajo is a name on the map rather than a place with a church and a bar: a scattering of farms and old cortijos in the upper valley of the Taibilla river, south of Nerpio, in the mountains where Albacete, Jaén and Granada meet. The Sierra de Segura and the Sierra de las Cabras rise all around, high limestone country cut by deep valleys, and the region is known among archaeologists for its painted rock shelters. The Abrigo del Sabinar and others along the same valley hold some of the most important prehistoric paintings of the Spanish south east, drawn on the soft overhangs that the river and the wind have shaped.

    Read the complete Canalejas de Abajo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Canalejas de Abajo is where the day begins. Next is Las Covachicas.

  2. 2. Las Covachicas

    The Sierra del Segura, in the far south of Albacete province, is a world of its own: deep valleys, rivers lined with poplars, terraces of olive and almond trees, and white villages that look more Andalusian than Castilian. Letur is one of the most beautiful, a village of Moorish origin built on a rock above a stream, with narrow alleys, arches and gardens watered by old irrigation channels. Las Covachicas, a group of shelters, lies in the hills nearby, between Letur, Socovos and Férez.

    Read the complete Las Covachicas write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Las Covachicas comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de las Palamas.

  3. 3. 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.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 93 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de las Palamas. Next is Cueva de los Pucheros.

  4. 4. Cueva de los Pucheros

    North-west of Cieza, the Segura river cuts through a dry landscape of limestone ridges, almond and fruit orchards, and rice fields that look out of place in arid Murcia. The Cueva de los Pucheros, a rock shelter in these hills between Cieza and Calasparra, is one of the many sites in the region holding prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like most of these shelters, it is fragile and often protected by a fence, and access may require a guided visit arranged through the local authorities.

    Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Cueva de los Pucheros, about halfway. Next is Abrigo del Canto Blanco.

  5. 5. Abrigo del Canto Blanco

    Jumilla is wine country, and you know it as soon as you arrive. The town sits in the north of the Murcia region, surrounded by a high, dry plateau of vineyards growing the Monastrell grape, which produces powerful, dark red wines. A castle tops the hill above the old town, and the bodegas on its outskirts welcome visitors. The Abrigo del Canto Blanco, the shelter of the white stone, lies in the hills about five kilometres away.

    Read the complete Abrigo del Canto Blanco write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Abrigo del Canto Blanco sits at 153 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de los Pucheros.

  6. 6. back through Cueva de los Pucheros

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Cueva de los Pucheros comes up about 225 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cueva de las Palamas.

  7. 7. back through Cueva de las Palamas

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 263 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cueva de las Palamas. Next is back through Las Covachicas.

  8. 8. back through Las Covachicas

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Las Covachicas write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Las Covachicas, late in the day. Next is Canalejas de Abajo.

  9. 9. Canalejas de Abajo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Canalejas de Abajo 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 355 km.

Leg by leg

Canalejas de Abajo to Las Covachicas

Canalejas de Abajo → Las Covachicas is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Las Covachicas to Cueva de las Palamas

Las Covachicas → Cueva de las Palamas is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Cueva de las Palamas to Cueva de los Pucheros

Cueva de las Palamas → Cueva de los Pucheros is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Cueva de los Pucheros to Abrigo del Canto Blanco

Cueva de los Pucheros → Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Abrigo del Canto Blanco to back through Cueva de los Pucheros

Abrigo del Canto Blanco → back through Cueva de los Pucheros is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Cueva de los Pucheros to back through Cueva de las Palamas

back through Cueva de los Pucheros → back through Cueva de las Palamas is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Cueva de las Palamas to back through Las Covachicas

back through Cueva de las Palamas → back through Las Covachicas is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Las Covachicas to Canalejas de Abajo

back through Las Covachicas → Canalejas de Abajo is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

More motorcycle rides nearby