Why this ride
A 399 km round trip from Totana - roughly 7 h 41 in the saddle. The stops in between: Los Grajos, Cueva de los Pucheros, Cueva de las Conchas and Cueva de Jorge. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
maina and Cueva de Jorge
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 399 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 41
- 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. maina
Maina is an obscure name on the map in the Murcian hills north-west of Totana, where the Sierra Espuña rises above the valley of the Guadalentín. It refers to a rock shelter or painted site in the dry limestone country, part of the cluster of prehistoric art sites around here included in the World Heritage listing of Levantine rock art. As with many such places, there is often little to see without a guide, but the landscape around it is worth the ride.
Read the complete maina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
maina is where the day begins. Next is Los Grajos.
2. Los Grajos
Jackdaws gave this place its name, grajos in Spanish, and they still wheel and chatter around the limestone cliffs where prehistoric people once sheltered and painted. Los Grajos lies in the hills near Alhama de Murcia, in the valley of the Guadalentín, where dry mountains rise above a plain of orchards, greenhouses and towns. The rock shelters here hold paintings in the Levantine style, and access is generally restricted to protect them.
Read the complete Los Grajos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Los Grajos comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de los Pucheros.
3. Cueva de los Pucheros
North-west of Cieza, the Segura river cuts through a dry landscape of limestone ridges, almond and fruit orchards, and rice fields that look out of place in arid Murcia. The Cueva de los Pucheros, a rock shelter in these hills between Cieza and Calasparra, is one of the many sites in the region holding prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like most of these shelters, it is fragile and often protected by a fence, and access may require a guided visit arranged through the local authorities.
Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 106 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de los Pucheros. Next is Cueva de las Conchas.
4. Cueva de las Conchas
Cehegín's old town rises in a tight cluster of ochre houses and church towers on a hill above the Argos river, in the northwest of Murcia, and it is one of the best-preserved historic centres in the region, with narrow streets, noble houses and churches dating back to the sixteenth century. The Cueva de las Conchas, the cave of the shells, lies less than a kilometre from the town, and it is part of the rich network of prehistoric sites in this area, included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art.
Read the complete Cueva de las Conchas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de las Conchas, about halfway. Next is Cueva de Jorge.
5. Cueva de Jorge
The Segura river does something surprising near Calasparra. It runs between steep walls of limestone, pale and fissured, and in those walls people made their shelters long before anyone built a town. Cueva de Jorge is one of the painted sites in this stretch of the valley, and it forms part of the Levantine art listed by UNESCO. The cave is a small, rough opening high in the cliffs, and the paintings, in the usual red pigment, are modest but real.
Read the complete Cueva de Jorge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de Jorge sits at 158 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de las Conchas.
6. back through Cueva de las Conchas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de las Conchas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva de las Conchas comes up about 256 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cueva de los Pucheros.
7. back through Cueva de los Pucheros
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 293 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cueva de los Pucheros. Next is back through Los Grajos.
8. back through Los Grajos
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Los Grajos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Los Grajos, late in the day. Next is maina.
9. maina
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete maina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 399 km.
Leg by leg
maina to Los Grajos
maina → Los Grajos is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Los Grajos to Cueva de los Pucheros
Los Grajos → Cueva de los Pucheros is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de los Pucheros to Cueva de las Conchas
Cueva de los Pucheros → Cueva de las Conchas is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Conchas to Cueva de Jorge
Cueva de las Conchas → Cueva de Jorge is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de Jorge to back through Cueva de las Conchas
Cueva de Jorge → back through Cueva de las Conchas is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de las Conchas to back through Cueva de los Pucheros
back through Cueva de las Conchas → back through Cueva de los Pucheros is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de los Pucheros to back through Los Grajos
back through Cueva de los Pucheros → back through Los Grajos is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Los Grajos to maina
back through Los Grajos → maina is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.