Why this ride
A 288 km round trip from Cieza - roughly 5 h 27 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cejo Cortado I, Cueva-sima de la Serreta, Cejo Cortado II and back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Los Grajos I and Cejo Cortado II
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 288 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 27
- 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. Los Grajos I
The painted women of Los Grajos are among the most famous figures in Spanish rock art. In a shelter in the limestone hills just outside Cieza, prehistoric painters depicted a group of human figures, several of them women with wide skirts and raised arms, often interpreted as dancers, alongside animals and other motifs. The Los Grajos shelters are part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, and they are protected, so visits need to be arranged with the local tourist office in Cieza.
Read the complete Los Grajos I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Los Grajos I is where the day begins. Next is Cejo Cortado I.
2. Cejo Cortado I
Mula is a town in the heart of the Murcia region, built on the slopes of a hill crowned by a sixteenth-century castle, with an old quarter of narrow streets, noble houses and churches. Around it, a dry landscape of hills, ravines and badlands opens out, with orchards and olive groves along the river. The Cejo Cortado, a name meaning the cut brow, refers to a rocky escarpment with prehistoric shelters about seven kilometres from the town, between Mula, Albudeite and Ricote.
Read the complete Cejo Cortado I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cejo Cortado I comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva-sima de la Serreta.
3. Cueva-sima de la Serreta
Calasparra is rice country, which surprises people who think of Murcia as parched and brown. The rice grows in terraced paddies fed by the clear, cold waters of the Segura, and the short-grain variety grown here has protected status and a reputation among Spanish cooks as the best for paella and slow rice dishes. Just upstream, the river squeezes through the Almadenes gorge, a narrow cleft between limestone walls where vultures soar and the water runs deep green. The Cueva-sima de la Serreta lies in the dry hills above, near the border with Cieza, in a land of rock and pine.
Read the complete Cueva-sima de la Serreta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 102 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva-sima de la Serreta. Next is Cejo Cortado II.
4. Cejo Cortado II
Mula does not announce itself to motorcyclists, which is a pity, because the roads around it are among the most enjoyable in inland Murcia. The town of nearly seventeen thousand sits on the river that bears its name, below the long grey wall of the Sierra Espuña to the south, and its old quarter climbs a hill capped by a castle. Cejo Cortado, seven kilometres from the centre, is a small crag in dry hill country where a shelter holds prehistoric paintings, the kind of place you find by following a farm track and reading the contours.
Read the complete Cejo Cortado II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cejo Cortado II, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta.
5. back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva-sima de la Serreta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta sits at 101 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cejo Cortado I.
6. back through Cejo Cortado I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cejo Cortado I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cejo Cortado I comes up about 243 km into the recorded legs. Next is Los Grajos I.
7. Los Grajos I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Los Grajos I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Los Grajos I closes the day.
Leg by leg
Los Grajos I to Cejo Cortado I
Los Grajos I → Cejo Cortado I is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cejo Cortado I to Cueva-sima de la Serreta
Cejo Cortado I → Cueva-sima de la Serreta is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva-sima de la Serreta to Cejo Cortado II
Cueva-sima de la Serreta → Cejo Cortado II is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cejo Cortado II to back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta
Cejo Cortado II → back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta to back through Cejo Cortado I
back through Cueva-sima de la Serreta → back through Cejo Cortado I is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cejo Cortado I to Los Grajos I
back through Cejo Cortado I → Los Grajos I is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Cavidad II and Abrigo del mojao · 401 km
- Abrigo del Canto Blanco and Los Grajos · 217 km