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.
A 90 km round trip from Nerpio - roughly 1 h 42 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cañaica del Calar l, Andragulla I and back through Cañaica del Calar l. 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. Hornacina de la Pareja
A hornacina is a niche, a small hollow in a wall, the kind you find in a church for a statue. The Hornacina de la Pareja, the niche of the couple, is a small shelter near Nerpio, a kilometre and a half from the village, and the name suggests that someone once saw a pair of figures in the paint. You should treat that as a clue to how fragile and ambiguous these images are: a couple to one eye, a stain and a couple of lines to another.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hornacina de la Pareja is where the day begins. Next is Cañaica del Calar l.
2. Cañaica del Calar l
Very few people get here. The Cañaica del Calar lies in the far north-west of the region of Murcia, near the border with Albacete and Andalusia, in a wild landscape of limestone plateaus, pine forests and deep valleys around Moratalla and Nerpio. The calar is the local word for a limestone plateau, and the rock shelters on its edges hold prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, part of the World Heritage rock art of the Mediterranean. The area around Nerpio is one of the richest in Spain for rock art.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cañaica del Calar l comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Andragulla I.
3. Andragulla I
In the far north-west corner of the Region of Murcia, where the land climbs towards the mountains of Albacete and Jaén, lies Moratalla, a town of whitewashed houses piled up a hillside beneath a castle tower. Its countryside is surprisingly wild for Murcia: pine forests, rivers, gorges and limestone ridges, some of the greenest land in a famously dry region. The rock shelter of Andragulla is one of many painted overhangs scattered through these hills, part of the Levantine rock art sites inscribed together by UNESCO. Many are protected behind fences and need a guide; the tourist office in Moratalla can advise.