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.
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.
From Albocàsser it runs 78 km to Albocàsser; allow about 2 h 03 of riding. The stops in between: Racó d'en Gil, Els Covarxos and back through Racó d'en Gil. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
A cova gran is a big cave, and in the limestone of the Alt Maestrat that is an easy thing to find. This whole upland is karst, pale rock that rain has been dissolving for millions of years, leaving ravines, sinkholes, springs that vanish underground and a good number of overhangs deep enough to sleep under. The Cova Gran del Puntal sits about six kilometres from Albocàsser in the ravine that the rides call the Barranco Hondo, the deep one, and it belongs to the family of Levantine rock-art shelters that UNESCO has listed across eastern Spain. Paintings of this kind sit in shallow recesses rather than in the dark depths of a cave, so do not expect Altamira. Expect a modest rock wall, a lot of faded red, and a very good view down the gully.
Read the complete Cova Gran del Puntal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cova Gran del Puntal is where the day begins. Next is Racó d'en Gil.
There is a small triangle of country in the Alt Maestrat, between Benassal, Catí and Albocàsser, where the hills fold into narrow ravines and the stone walls of old terraces climb every slope. Racó d'en Gil, a name meaning something like Gil's corner, lies in this landscape, and it sits within easy reach of the Valltorta gorge, the place that put Levantine rock art on the map.
Read the complete Racó d'en Gil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Racó d'en Gil comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Els Covarxos. Next is back through Racó d'en Gil.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó d'en Gil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Racó d'en Gil, late in the day. Next is Cova Gran del Puntal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova Gran del Puntal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Cova Gran del Puntal. That is the ride.
Cova Gran del Puntal → Racó d'en Gil is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Racó d'en Gil → Els Covarxos is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Els Covarxos → back through Racó d'en Gil is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Racó d'en Gil → Cova Gran del Puntal is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.