Castellón de los machos and Torre de la iglesia de San Martín
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
271 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 36
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.
From Boniches it runs 271 km to Boniches; allow about 5 h 36 of riding. The stops in between: Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón, Cueva de Doña Clotilde, Torre de la iglesia de San Martín and back through Cueva de Doña Clotilde. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 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. Castellón de los machos
High in the Serranía de Cuenca, among pine woods and sandstone outcrops near the village of Villar del Humo, prehistoric hunters painted figures on the rock shelters thousands of years ago. The site called Castellón de los Machos is one of a cluster in this area that belongs to the vast UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula, which covers hundreds of painted shelters from Catalonia to Andalusia. The images here are small, reddish and stylised, and finding them takes patience and good eyes.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castellón de los machos is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón.
2. Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón
Paridera is a shepherd's word: a stone pen where ewes give birth, sheltered from the wind. Above Tormón, a tiny village in the southern Sierra de Albarracín, one such overhang has given its name to a rock shelter with prehistoric paintings, the Abrigo de la Paridera, part of the Levantine rock art sites the Iberian Peninsula shares under one UNESCO listing. The cliff here is rodeno, the red sandstone that gives this corner of Teruel its startling colour, eroded into towers, arches and overhangs among the pine trees.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de Doña Clotilde.
3. Cueva de Doña Clotilde
The rock art in the Cueva de Doña Clotilde, in the pine forests outside Albarracín, is a little different from the typical Levantine scenes. Painted in white or pale colours rather than the usual red, the figures include schematic human shapes and animals, and they sit on the red sandstone of the Rodeno, a landscape of rust-coloured rocks and maritime pines that is now protected as a cultural park. The shelter is part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin listing, and the Rodeno is full of painted shelters, several of which, like the bulls of the Prado del Navazo, can be visited along marked paths.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de Doña Clotilde. Next is Torre de la iglesia de San Martín.
4. Torre de la iglesia de San Martín
Teruel is a small provincial capital high on the Aragonese plateau, and its skyline is made of Mudéjar towers, built by Muslim craftsmen working for Christian patrons in brick and glazed ceramic tiles. The tower of San Martín, dating to the early fourteenth century, is one of the finest, a square tower straddling a street, so that traffic passes through an arch at its base. With the other Mudéjar towers of the city and the cathedral, it forms part of the World Heritage listing of Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Castellón de los machos closes the day.
Leg by leg
Castellón de los machos to Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón
Castellón de los machos → Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón to Cueva de Doña Clotilde
Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón → Cueva de Doña Clotilde is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de Doña Clotilde to Torre de la iglesia de San Martín
Cueva de Doña Clotilde → Torre de la iglesia de San Martín is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Torre de la iglesia de San Martín to back through Cueva de Doña Clotilde
Torre de la iglesia de San Martín → back through Cueva de Doña Clotilde is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de Doña Clotilde to back through Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón
back through Cueva de Doña Clotilde → back through Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón to Castellón de los machos
back through Abrigo de la Paridera de Tormón → Castellón de los machos is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.