Why this ride
From Nughedu Santa Vittoria it runs 312 km to Nughedu Santa Vittoria; allow about 5 h 06 of riding. It goes by way of Petroglyph Park-b, Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante and back through Petroglyph Park-b.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa and Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 312 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 06
- 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. Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa
The high country of central Sardinia, between the Tirso river and the hills of the Barbagia, is a landscape of basalt plateaus, cork forests, small stone villages and long, empty views. The nearest places on our list, Nughedu Santa Vittoria and Neoneli, are small villages with only a few hundred people each, and the town of Macomer is some twenty-five kilometres away. The prehistoric story here is about how the island's early people treated their dead, and the title reflects that.
Read the complete Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa is where the day begins. Next is Petroglyph Park-b.
2. Petroglyph Park-b
The Logudoro in northern Sardinia is a high, rolling country of basalt plateaus and the worn cones of extinct volcanoes, where cork oaks and wild olives stand in dry pasture and every second hill seems to have a ruined nuraghe on it. Petroglyph Park-b lies near the small villages of Cheremule, Giave and Torralba, in an area where the rock itself was used as an archive, carved into tombs and marked with symbols by people who lived here thousands of years before Rome.
Read the complete Petroglyph Park-b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Petroglyph Park-b comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante.
3. Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante
On the side of the main road below Castelsardo, in northern Sardinia, a huge reddish rock stands alone at a bend, and it really does look like an elephant, trunk lowered, as if about to drink. It is a block of volcanic trachyte that broke away from the hills above and was sculpted by wind and rain into its strange shape. What most passing drivers miss is that its base was used long before anyone thought of elephants: two prehistoric tombs, domus de janas, were cut into the rock in the Neolithic period, and in one of them carved horn shapes, the symbol of the bull, can still be made out.
Read the complete Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 153 km into the recorded legs you reach Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante. Next is back through Petroglyph Park-b.
4. back through Petroglyph Park-b
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Petroglyph Park-b write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Petroglyph Park-b, late in the day. Next is Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa.
5. Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa to Petroglyph Park-b
Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa → Petroglyph Park-b is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Petroglyph Park-b to Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante
Petroglyph Park-b → Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante to back through Petroglyph Park-b
Domus de janas of Roccia dell’Elefante → back through Petroglyph Park-b is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Petroglyph Park-b to Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa
back through Petroglyph Park-b → Funerary Tradition in the Prehistory of Sa is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.