Why this ride
A 326 km round trip from Torredonjimeno - roughly 5 h 05 in the saddle. It goes by way of Baeza, Poyo medio Cimbarra and back through Baeza.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cueva del Encajero and Poyo medio Cimbarra
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 326 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 05
- 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. Cueva del Encajero
Olives, and then more olives. Riding west out of Jaén towards Torredonjimeno you cross one of the most single-minded agricultural landscapes in Europe, a rolling grid of grey-green trees running over every hill to the horizon, broken only by white farmhouses and the occasional oil mill. Somewhere among these low hills near Villardompardo, the Cueva del Encajero is a small rock shelter with traces of prehistoric painting, one of the many scattered sites that make up the World Heritage listing of rock art in Spain's Mediterranean basin.
Read the complete Cueva del Encajero write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva del Encajero is where the day begins. Next is Baeza.
2. Baeza
Baeza is a town of honey-coloured stone set on a ridge above a sea of olive trees. From its edge, the view drops over the Guadalquivir valley to the dark line of the Sierra Mágina, and in every direction the hills are covered with orderly rows of olives, millions of them, the source of more olive oil than almost anywhere on earth. The town's Renaissance palaces, churches and squares, together with those of neighbouring Úbeda, make up a World Heritage site.
Read the complete Baeza write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Baeza comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Poyo medio Cimbarra.
3. Poyo medio Cimbarra
Aldeaquemada is a village of barely five hundred people in the Sierra Morena, in the north of Jaén province, and the hills around it are among the wildest in Andalusia. The Cimbarra gorge is the dramatic feature of the area, a deep cleft cut by the Guarrizas river through dark slate and quartzite, with cliffs, oak and rock rose on the slopes and vultures riding the air above. The Poyo Medio, a rocky outcrop on the gorge, holds a rock shelter with paintings that belong to the tradition of schematic and Levantine art in the Sierra Morena, among the oldest signs of human presence in the region.
Read the complete Poyo medio Cimbarra write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 164 km into the recorded legs you reach Poyo medio Cimbarra. Next is back through Baeza.
4. back through Baeza
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baeza write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Baeza, late in the day. Next is Cueva del Encajero.
5. Cueva del Encajero
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Encajero write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cueva del Encajero. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cueva del Encajero to Baeza
Cueva del Encajero → Baeza is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baeza to Poyo medio Cimbarra
Baeza → Poyo medio Cimbarra is 94 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Poyo medio Cimbarra to back through Baeza
Poyo medio Cimbarra → back through Baeza is 95 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Baeza to Cueva del Encajero
back through Baeza → Cueva del Encajero is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Cueva del Encajero and Úbeda · 382 km
- Cueva del Encajero and Cañada de la Cruz · 541 km
- Abrigo de D. Pedro mota and Úbeda · 423 km