Why this ride
A 360 km round trip from Ramales de la Victoria - roughly 5 h 29 in the saddle. The stops in between: La Garma, Monte Castillo - El Castillo, Chemin de la Liébana and Hornos de la Peña. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Covalanas and Hornos de la Peña
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 360 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 29
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Covalanas
Covalanas is known as the cave of the red deer. Its walls carry red ochre paintings of hinds, drawn in a distinctive dotted technique, and they are among the finest Palaeolithic paintings in the Cantabrian region. The cave sits on a steep, wooded hillside above Ramales de la Victoria, in eastern Cantabria, and it was one of the first painted caves to be recognised in Spain, in the early twentieth century. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Cave of Altamira and Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain, and visits are limited to small groups, so booking ahead is advisable.
Read the complete Covalanas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Covalanas is where the day begins. Next is La Garma.
2. La Garma
La Garma is a low limestone hill a few kilometres inland from the Bay of Santander, green with meadows and oak scrub, the sort of rounded Cantabrian hump you might ride past without a second glance. Inside it lies one of the most important prehistoric caves in Europe. Found by chance in the 1990s, the cave of La Garma contains not just paintings but preserved living floors from the Palaeolithic: hearths, bones, tools and the outlines of shelters left exactly as they were when a rockfall sealed the entrance thousands of years ago. It forms part of the UNESCO site of the Cave of Altamira and Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain.
Read the complete La Garma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Garma comes up about 44 km into the recorded legs. Next is Monte Castillo - El Castillo.
3. Monte Castillo - El Castillo
Some of the oldest paintings in Europe sit in a hill above a village best known for its hot springs. The cave of El Castillo opens in the flank of Monte Castillo, right above Puente Viesgo in the Pas valley of Cantabria, and inside it are hand stencils and a red disc that scientists dated, in 2012, to more than forty thousand years ago. That makes them contenders for the oldest cave art known on the continent, and possibly older than any made by modern humans, since Neanderthals were around at the time. UNESCO lists the Cantabrian caves, and a visit means a guided group entering in small numbers, so book ahead and expect limits on the day.
Read the complete Monte Castillo - El Castillo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 80 km into the recorded legs you reach Monte Castillo - El Castillo. Next is Chemin de la Liébana.
4. Chemin de la Liébana
San Vicente de la Barquera is where the Camino Lebaniego begins, the old pilgrim route that leaves the Cantabrian coast and climbs south into the mountains of Liébana to the monastery of Santo Toribio. The town sits on a pair of estuaries, with a long medieval bridge carrying the road across the water, a castle and the Gothic church of Santa María above the harbour, and on clear days the snowy peaks of the Picos de Europa rising behind the marshes like a stage set.
Read the complete Chemin de la Liébana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chemin de la Liébana, about halfway. Next is Hornos de la Peña.
5. Hornos de la Peña
Above the village of San Felices de Buelna, on a limestone hillside in the Besaya valley of Cantabria, a cave called Hornos de la Peña holds engravings made by Palaeolithic hunters. The most famous is the outline of a horse, scratched into the rock thousands of years ago, along with other animals and signs that take time and a good guide to pick out. The cave is one of the seventeen in northern Spain listed by UNESCO alongside Altamira, and visits are limited and guided, so check ahead rather than simply turning up.
Read the complete Hornos de la Peña write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hornos de la Peña sits at 166 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chemin de la Liébana.
6. back through Chemin de la Liébana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chemin de la Liébana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chemin de la Liébana comes up about 230 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Monte Castillo - El Castillo.
7. back through Monte Castillo - El Castillo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monte Castillo - El Castillo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 279 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Monte Castillo - El Castillo. Next is back through La Garma.
8. back through La Garma
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Garma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through La Garma, late in the day. Next is Covalanas.
9. Covalanas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Covalanas 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 360 km.
Leg by leg
Covalanas to La Garma
Covalanas → La Garma is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Garma to Monte Castillo - El Castillo
La Garma → Monte Castillo - El Castillo is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monte Castillo - El Castillo to Chemin de la Liébana
Monte Castillo - El Castillo → Chemin de la Liébana is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chemin de la Liébana to Hornos de la Peña
Chemin de la Liébana → Hornos de la Peña is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hornos de la Peña to back through Chemin de la Liébana
Hornos de la Peña → back through Chemin de la Liébana is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chemin de la Liébana to back through Monte Castillo - El Castillo
back through Chemin de la Liébana → back through Monte Castillo - El Castillo is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monte Castillo - El Castillo to back through La Garma
back through Monte Castillo - El Castillo → back through La Garma is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Garma to Covalanas
back through La Garma → Covalanas is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.