Cova de la Taruga and Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
512 km
Riding-time estimate
10 h 50
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.
512 km from Albocàsser to Albocàsser, about 10 h 50 of riding. The stops in between: Roca del Senallo, Castell de Villafamés, Cova de Gargán and Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cova de la Taruga
The Cova de la Taruga sits in the same part of the Maestrat as the Coves del Civil, six kilometres from Albocàsser and ten from Cuevas de Vinromá, in a landscape of low limestone hills, dry-stone walls and scattered almond and olive trees. The cave belongs to the painted shelters of the Valencian Maestrat, which are part of the Mediterranean rock art listed by UNESCO in 1998, and the nearby sites of Abric de la Tenalla and Cabra Feixet are on the same route.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cova de la Taruga is where the day begins. Next is Roca del Senallo.
2. Roca del Senallo
The Maestrat of inland Castellón is a highland of stone: stone villages on hilltops, stone walls running for kilometres across the slopes, stone farmhouses called masos scattered over the plateau. Roca del Senallo is a rock shelter near Culla, Vilafranca and Benassal, one of many painted shelters in this region, and it belongs to the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. The Maestrat is one of the richest areas for Levantine art, with famous sites in the Valltorta gorge and around Ares and Albocàsser.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roca del Senallo comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Castell de Villafamés.
3. Castell de Villafamés
Villafamés announces itself from a long way off: a village of white and ochre houses stacked up a hill of reddish rock, with the remains of a castle crowning the top. It stands a little inland from the coast of Castellón, roughly between Borriol, Cabanes and the beach town of Benicàssim, close enough to the sea that you can smell salt on a westerly breeze turning, yet already in that rumpled hill country that leads up into the Maestrat.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Castell de Villafamés. Next is Cova de Gargán.
4. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cova de Gargán, about halfway. Next is Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d.
5. Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d
The Guadalope river cuts a deep canyon through the limestone of the Maestrazgo in eastern Teruel, and the Abrigo del Arenal de la Fonseca lies in this wild country near the hamlet of Ladruñán, between the villages of Castellote and Cantavieja. It is one of the important rock-art shelters of Aragon, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean prehistoric art, with Levantine paintings of animals and human figures in red pigment on the rock. The setting is spectacular: a narrow gorge with towering cliffs, the river flowing below, and pine and holm oak clinging to the slopes. Access involves a walk, and the paintings are protected by a fence.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 512 km.
Leg by leg
Cova de la Taruga to Roca del Senallo
Cova de la Taruga → Roca del Senallo is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roca del Senallo to Castell de Villafamés
Roca del Senallo → Castell de Villafamés is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castell de Villafamés to Cova de Gargán
Castell de Villafamés → Cova de Gargán is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova de Gargán to Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d
Cova de Gargán → Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d is 134 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d to back through Cova de Gargán
Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d → back through Cova de Gargán is 134 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cova de Gargán to back through Castell de Villafamés
back through Cova de Gargán → back through Castell de Villafamés is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Castell de Villafamés to back through Roca del Senallo
back through Castell de Villafamés → back through Roca del Senallo is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roca del Senallo to Cova de la Taruga
back through Roca del Senallo → Cova de la Taruga is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.