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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Covacho de Palluala and Cova del Tabac

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
312 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 18
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 Alquézar it runs 312 km to Alquézar; allow about 5 h 18 of riding. It goes by way of El Remosillo, Les Coves, Cova del Tabac and back through Les Coves. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,000 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Covacho de Palluala

    Covacho is the Aragonese word for a small cave or overhang, and Palluala is one of the hillside patches near Alquézar that carry the old farming names of the valley. The shelter, a mere kilometre and a bit from the village, is probably the nearest to it of all the painted rocks on this list, which means you can leave the motorbike in the village and walk instead of making a project of it. As with its neighbours it belongs to the Levantine rock art of the Spanish Mediterranean, listed by UNESCO in 1998.

    Read the complete Covacho de Palluala write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Covacho de Palluala is where the day begins. Next is El Remosillo.

  2. 2. El Remosillo

    If you ride north from Barbastro toward Graus, the Ésera river eventually forces its way through a ridge of limestone, and the result is the Congosto de Olvena, a short, deep gorge with the road squeezed between rock and water. Up on the cliffs around here are rock shelters with prehistoric paintings, and El Remosillo is one of the best known in this corner of Aragón, between Estadilla, Graus and Fonz.

    Read the complete El Remosillo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    El Remosillo comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Les Coves.

  3. 3. Les Coves

    The western edge of Catalonia, around Lleida, is fruit country. Irrigation canals bring water from the Pyrenean rivers to a broad, flat plain of orchards growing apples, pears and peaches, laid out in neat lines that stretch to the horizon. Les Coves lies in this area, close to the Aragonese border, between Alfarràs, Albelda and Algerri, where the valley of the Noguera Ribagorçana spills out of the hills and onto the plain.

    Read the complete Les Coves write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 91 km into the recorded legs you reach Les Coves. Next is Cova del Tabac.

  4. 4. Cova del Tabac

    Above the village of Camarasa, where the Segre comes out of the pre-Pyrenean hills onto the plain of Lleida, a cave in the limestone holds some of the most interesting rock paintings in Catalonia. The Cova del Tabac, the tobacco cave, is a wide shelter with schematic paintings, simplified human figures, animals and symbols in red, and it is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art on the Iberian Peninsula. A short walk leads up from the road to the shelter, which also offers a fine view over the valley, and on a clear day the Pyrenees rise white on the northern horizon.

    Read the complete Cova del Tabac write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Cova del Tabac, about halfway. Next is back through Les Coves.

  5. 5. back through Les Coves

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Les Coves write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Les Coves sits at 148 km, about halfway. Next is back through El Remosillo.

  6. 6. back through El Remosillo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete El Remosillo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through El Remosillo comes up about 268 km into the recorded legs. Next is Covacho de Palluala.

  7. 7. Covacho de Palluala

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Covacho de Palluala write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Covacho de Palluala closes the day.

Leg by leg

Covacho de Palluala to El Remosillo

Covacho de Palluala → El Remosillo is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

El Remosillo to Les Coves

El Remosillo → Les Coves is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Les Coves to Cova del Tabac

Les Coves → Cova del Tabac is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Cova del Tabac to back through Les Coves

Cova del Tabac → back through Les Coves is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Les Coves to back through El Remosillo

back through Les Coves → back through El Remosillo is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through El Remosillo to Covacho de Palluala

back through El Remosillo → Covacho de Palluala is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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