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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 303 km round trip from Oropesa del Mar - roughly 6 h 33 in the saddle. The stops in between: Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal, Racó de Nando, mas d'en Josep- Abric l and Caseta de Irene. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Most people come to this stretch of the Castellón coast for the beaches at Benicàssim and Oropesa, and they never look up at the dry, scrubby hills a few kilometres inland. Up there, among the pines, rosemary and limestone ledges near Cabanes, the Cova alta del Llidoner is one of the rock shelters with prehistoric paintings that belong to the World Heritage site of Levantine rock art. It is a quiet, unshowy place, more about the feel of the land than about anything you can photograph.
Read the complete Cova alta del Llidoner write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cova alta del Llidoner is where the day begins. Next is Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal.
Cingle means a cliff in Valencian, and the Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal is one of the rocky bands that cut across the hills of northern Castellón, in the Maestrat region. The shelters in these cliffs hold paintings of the Levantine rock art tradition, red figures of archers, goats and deer, protected by UNESCO as part of the Mediterranean Basin group. The Valltorta gorge nearby is one of the richest concentrations of this art, and there is a museum in the village of Tírig that explains the painted shelters. The shelters themselves are fragile and often restricted.
Read the complete Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Racó de Nando.
Racó means corner in Valencian, and this really is a corner: a fold in the limestone hills between Benassal, Culla and Vilafranca, in the interior of Castellón where the coast's crowds feel a continent away. The rock shelter here is one of the many small sites of Levantine prehistoric painting that together make up a UNESCO World Heritage listing, and like most of them it is modest, fenced and best seen with a local guide. What lingers is less the painting than the idea of hunters choosing this exact overhang, with water close by and a view down the valley, and leaving their mark on it.
Read the complete Racó de Nando write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 77 km into the recorded legs you reach Racó de Nando. Next is mas d'en Josep- Abric l.
If the rock art of eastern Spain has a capital, it is the Valltorta gorge in the Maestrat of Castellón, and the Mas d'en Josep shelter is one of its classic sites. The paintings here belong to the Levantine style, small, lively scenes of hunters with bows, running figures and animals in motion, drawn with an energy that still feels modern. One famous panel from this area shows a deer hunt; others depict archers in mid-stride. The shelters of the Valltorta are part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and the museum at Tírig, near the gorge, is the place to start: it explains the art, shows reproductions, and organises guided visits to the shelters, which are fenced and protected.
Read the complete mas d'en Josep- Abric l write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
mas d'en Josep- Abric l, about halfway. Next is Caseta de Irene.
The wind is the first thing you notice on the plateau between Culla and Villafranca del Cid. It comes in over the Maestrat from the sea or down from the mountains, depending on the day, and it has been put to work: lines of wind turbines stand along the ridges, turning slowly against a sky that seems to start at your shoulder. Caseta de Irene, a hut-sized name on a map, lies in this upland between the two villages, a little under seven kilometres from each, and the shelter belongs to the wider cluster of Gasulla and Valltorta sites that make this district special.
Read the complete Caseta de Irene write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caseta de Irene sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete mas d'en Josep- Abric l write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l comes up about 186 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Racó de Nando.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó de Nando write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 229 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Racó de Nando. Next is back through Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal, late in the day. Next is Cova alta del Llidoner.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova alta del Llidoner write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 303 km.
Cova alta del Llidoner → Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal → Racó de Nando is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Racó de Nando → mas d'en Josep- Abric l is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas d'en Josep- Abric l → Caseta de Irene is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caseta de Irene → back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l → back through Racó de Nando is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Racó de Nando → back through Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cingle dels Tolls del Puntal → Cova alta del Llidoner is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.