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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

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.

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Why this 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. 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.

    Read the complete Cova de la Taruga write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    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. 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.

    Read the complete Roca del Senallo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    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. 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.

    Read the complete Castell de Villafamés write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    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. 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.

    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, about halfway. Next is Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d.

  5. 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.

    Read the complete Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Abrigo del Arenal de la fonseca ó Abrigo d sits at 177 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cova de Gargán.

  6. 6. back through 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

    back through Cova de Gargán comes up about 390 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Castell de Villafamés.

  7. 7. back through Castell de Villafamés

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Castell de Villafamés write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 433 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Castell de Villafamés. Next is back through Roca del Senallo.

  8. 8. back through Roca del Senallo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Roca del Senallo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Roca del Senallo, late in the day. Next is Cova de la Taruga.

  9. 9. Cova de la Taruga

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cova de la Taruga write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    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.

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