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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 349 km round trip from El Campello - roughly 6 h 01 in the saddle. The stops in between: Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi, La Sarga- Abric I, Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l and Abric de la Penya. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cueva de la feliceta
Behind the resort towns of the Costa Blanca, a short ride inland, the land rises into dry limestone hills where almost nobody goes. The Cueva de la Feliceta is one of several prehistoric painted shelters in the hills above El Campello, a coastal town of over twenty-six thousand people about fourteen kilometres away, and one of several painted shelters in the same tradition. The surrounding country is scrub, pine and terraced almond groves, with the sea glinting in the distance and the sound of cicadas in summer.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de la feliceta is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi.
2. Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi
The Carabassí is one of the last stretches of wild-ish coast between Alicante and Santa Pola: a line of dunes held together by pine and marram grass, a long beach, and the sea glittering under the flight path of Alicante airport. In the low rocky ground behind it lies a small cave known for painted marks, the Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassí, close to the village of El Altet and a short hop from Santa Pola.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is La Sarga- Abric I.
3. La Sarga- Abric I
Alcoy, or Alcoi in Valencian, is a city of bridges, built where three rivers meet in deep ravines, in the mountains of northern Alicante. It was one of the cradles of Spain's industrial revolution, with textile and paper mills powered by its rivers, and its streets have fine modernist buildings from that era. It is also famous for its Moors and Christians festival in April, one of the most spectacular in Spain, with parades, music and mock battles in honour of Saint George. The rock shelters of La Sarga lie in the hills about eight kilometres from the city, toward Ibi.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 99 km into the recorded legs you reach La Sarga- Abric I. Next is Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l.
4. Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l
Castelló de Rugat sits on the southern rim of the Vall d'Albaida, a broad valley in the south of Valencia province hemmed in by mountain ridges. On one side rises the long saw-toothed crest of the Benicadell, on the other the Serra de la Solana, and between them lies a patchwork of vineyards, olive groves and small towns with church towers. The Barranc de les Coves, the ravine of the caves, cuts into the slopes near Castelló de Rugat, Ràfol de Salem and Beniarrés, and its first shelter holds painted figures.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l, about halfway. Next is Abric de la Penya.
5. Abric de la Penya
Moixent, or Mogente in Castilian, stands at the head of a corridor that has carried traffic between the Valencian coast and the interior of Castile for as long as anyone has been moving goods. The old road, the railway and now the motorway all funnel through here, between low limestone ridges with vineyards and olive groves in the valley floor. The rock shelter known as the Abric de la Penya sits in this landscape a few kilometres from the town, close also to Vallada.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 349 km.
Leg by leg
Cueva de la feliceta to Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi
Cueva de la feliceta → Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi to La Sarga- Abric I
Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi → La Sarga- Abric I is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Sarga- Abric I to Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l
La Sarga- Abric I → Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l to Abric de la Penya
Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l → Abric de la Penya is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Penya to back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l
Abric de la Penya → back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l to back through La Sarga- Abric I
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l → back through La Sarga- Abric I is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Sarga- Abric I to back through Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi
back through La Sarga- Abric I → back through Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi to Cueva de la feliceta
back through Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi → Cueva de la feliceta is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.