Cova del Ramat and Coveta de montegordo

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Cova del Ramat

   The Ebro makes a great loop through southern Catalonia, and the Cova del Ramat lies in the dry hills just west of it, above the villages of Ginestar and Rasquera. The river here is broad and slow, lined with orchards and reed beds, and in 1938 it became the site of the Battle of the Ebro, the longest and bloodiest battle of the Spanish Civil War, which raged for nearly four months in the summer and autumn and left the hills riddled with trenches. Their traces survive in the landscape, and several memorial sites and museums, notably around Gandesa, tell the story.

   Read the complete Cova del Ramat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Cova del Ramat is where the day begins. Next is Abric d'Esquarterades II.

2. 2. Abric d'Esquarterades II

   Ulldecona stands where the foothills of the Ports de Tortosa-Beseit slope toward the plain of the Ebro, in the south of Catalonia, and it is a town of about six thousand people with olive groves in every direction. The Serra de Godall rises behind, and under its cliffs, the shelters known as the Abrics de l'Ermita, near the hermitage of La Pietat, hold prehistoric paintings, with a small visitor centre that makes it one of the easier places to see this art. Esquarterades is another shelter in the same tradition, part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin listed by UNESCO in 1998.

   Read the complete Abric d'Esquarterades II write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Abric d'Esquarterades II comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Coveta de montegordo.

3. 3. Coveta de montegordo

   Up in the dry limestone uplands of inland Castellón, the Valltorta and Gasulla ravines hold one of the densest concentrations of Levantine rock art in Spain, and the Coveta de Montegordo is one of its many small shelters. Painted under rock overhangs some seven or eight thousand years ago, perhaps more, the figures here are tiny, often no taller than a finger, yet astonishingly alive: archers running with bows drawn, goats and deer leaping, hunters following wounded animals. The whole region is part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin listing inscribed by UNESCO in 1998, and the famous Cova dels Cavalls in the Valltorta shows a deer hunt with a line of archers waiting in ambush.

   Read the complete Coveta de montegordo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 141 km into the recorded legs you reach Coveta de montegordo. Next is back through Abric d'Esquarterades II.

4. 4. back through Abric d'Esquarterades II

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Abric d'Esquarterades II write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Abric d'Esquarterades II, late in the day. Next is Cova del Ramat.

5. 5. Cova del Ramat

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cova del Ramat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Cova del Ramat. That is the ride.