Cingle de Palanques- Abrigo A and Abric del mas dels Ous
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
135 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 26
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 Palanques it runs 135 km to Palanques; allow about 2 h 26 of riding. The stops in between: Coveta de la Cornisa, Abric del mas dels Ous and back through Coveta de la Cornisa. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 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. Cingle de Palanques- Abrigo A
Els Ports is the high, empty country in the north of Castellón province, a land of stone-walled terraces, deep gorges, juniper and pine, and villages that cling to ridges above the river valleys. Palanques is one of the smallest of them, and above it, in a long cliff band known as the Cingle de Palanques, are shelters with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. The Levantine paintings here show human figures and animals in the expressive style typical of this coast's mountainous interior, and like most such sites, they are protected and usually visited with a local guide.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cingle de Palanques- Abrigo A is where the day begins. Next is Coveta de la Cornisa.
2. Coveta de la Cornisa
Morella is one of the most dramatic towns in Spain: a walled medieval city wrapped around a conical hill, with a castle on the summit and its walls running unbroken around the base. It stands in the mountains of the Ports in the north of Castellón province, at around a thousand metres, and its silhouette, seen from the roads that climb toward it, is unforgettable. The Coveta de la Cornisa, the little cave of the ledge, lies in the hills about four kilometres away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coveta de la Cornisa comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del mas dels Ous.
3. 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.