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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Cova de Gargán and Els Covarxos

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
225 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 27
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.

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Why this ride

From Vistabella del Maestrazgo it runs 225 km to Vistabella del Maestrazgo; allow about 5 h 27 of riding. On the way it passes Racó de Nando, Centelles- Abric I, Els Covarxos and back through Centelles- Abric I. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. 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.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Cova de Gargán is where the day begins. Next is Racó de Nando.

  2. 2. 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.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Racó de Nando comes up about 53 km into the recorded legs. Next is Centelles- Abric I.

  3. 3. Centelles- Abric I

    Albocàsser and Catí are two quiet stone towns in the inland hills of Castellón, and between them, in a rocky ravine, the Centelles shelters hold some of the prehistoric paintings that make this corner of Spain a capital of Levantine rock art. The style is distinctive: small human figures, often archers, painted in red with long legs and dynamic poses, hunting deer, ibex and boar, sometimes in groups, sometimes in battle. The sites are part of the UNESCO listing of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Nearby, the Valltorta gorge, near Tírig, holds some of the most famous examples, and its museum explains the art and the people who made it.

    Read the complete Centelles- Abric I write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Centelles- Abric I. Next is Els Covarxos.

  4. 4. Els Covarxos

    Culla stands on a hilltop in the interior of Castellón, a medieval village of stone houses and narrow lanes wrapped around the remains of a castle. In the thirteenth century, after the Christian conquest, the area was granted to the Knights Templar, and later to the Order of Montesa, which explains the old walls and the sense of a place built for defence. Below the village, among the ravines and terraces, the rock shelter of Els Covarxos holds prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like many such shelters, it is protected and not easy to find on your own; enquire locally before setting off on foot.

    Read the complete Els Covarxos write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Els Covarxos, about halfway. Next is back through Centelles- Abric I.

  5. 5. back through Centelles- Abric I

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Centelles- Abric I write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Centelles- Abric I sits at 102 km, about halfway. Next is back through Racó de Nando.

  6. 6. back through Racó de Nando

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Racó de Nando write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Racó de Nando comes up about 171 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cova de Gargán.

  7. 7. Cova de Gargán

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cova de Gargán write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Cova de Gargán closes the day.

Leg by leg

Cova de Gargán to Racó de Nando

Cova de Gargán → Racó de Nando is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Racó de Nando to Centelles- Abric I

Racó de Nando → Centelles- Abric I is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Centelles- Abric I to Els Covarxos

Centelles- Abric I → Els Covarxos is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Els Covarxos to back through Centelles- Abric I

Els Covarxos → back through Centelles- Abric I is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Centelles- Abric I to back through Racó de Nando

back through Centelles- Abric I → back through Racó de Nando is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Racó de Nando to Cova de Gargán

back through Racó de Nando → Cova de Gargán is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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