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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Cueva de los Cascarones and Letreros de los mártires

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
229 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 25
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 Socovos it runs 229 km to Socovos; allow about 6 h 25 of riding. On the way it passes Cavidad V, Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras, Letreros de los mártires and back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Cueva de los Cascarones

    This is the country of the upper Segura, where Albacete and Murcia meet, and it is among the least visited corners of southern Spain. The river cuts through limestone sierras, with pine forests, reedy banks and small terraced fields where almond and olive trees grow, and the villages, Socovos and Férez among them, are small, white and quiet. The scale of the land is bigger than its population, and in summer the cicadas are the loudest thing you will hear.

    Read the complete Cueva de los Cascarones write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Cueva de los Cascarones is where the day begins. Next is Cavidad V.

  2. 2. Cavidad V

    Nerpio is about as far from anywhere as you can get in mainland Spain. This village of around sixteen hundred people sits in the Sierra del Segura, in the far south-west of Albacete province, close to the borders of Murcia and Andalusia, and the surrounding hills are dotted with shelters containing prehistoric paintings. The numbered sites around here, Cavidad V among them, are part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin, and the Nerpio area is one of the richest concentrations of Levantine art in Spain, with hunting scenes, archers and animals painted thousands of years ago.

    Read the complete Cavidad V write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Cavidad V comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras.

  3. 3. Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras

    The name means the stream of the foxes' spring, which is the kind of place name that only survives in country where people still walk. The ravines around Nerpio hold dozens of painted rock shelters, with Levantine and Schematic paintings of hunters, animals and symbols, and they form part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Visits to many of them need to be arranged through the local interpretation centre.

    Read the complete Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras. Next is Letreros de los mártires.

  4. 4. Letreros de los mártires

    Out in the high north-east of Granada province, Huéscar feels a long way from the Alhambra and the beaches of the Costa Tropical. This is the altiplano, a broad upland of wheat fields, almond trees and pale badlands at around a thousand metres, ringed by mountains, with the great limestone hump of La Sagra rising to the north. The rock shelter called Letreros de los Mártires lies in this country, a dozen or so kilometres from the town.

    Read the complete Letreros de los mártires write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Letreros de los mártires, about halfway. Next is back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras.

  5. 5. back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras sits at 109 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cavidad V.

  6. 6. back through Cavidad V

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cavidad V write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Cavidad V comes up about 207 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de los Cascarones.

  7. 7. Cueva de los Cascarones

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cueva de los Cascarones write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Cueva de los Cascarones closes the day.

Leg by leg

Cueva de los Cascarones to Cavidad V

Cueva de los Cascarones → Cavidad V is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Cavidad V to Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras

Cavidad V → Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras to Letreros de los mártires

Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras → Letreros de los mártires is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Letreros de los mártires to back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras

Letreros de los mártires → back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras to back through Cavidad V

back through Arroyo de la fuente de las Zorras → back through Cavidad V is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Cavidad V to Cueva de los Cascarones

back through Cavidad V → Cueva de los Cascarones is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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