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 478 km round trip from Mequinensa / Mequinenza - roughly 10 h 07 in the saddle. The stops in between: Abrigo del Plano del Pulido, Cueva de mas del Abogat, Abric de la Tenalla and Abric d'Esquarterades I. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. mas de Patriciel I
Where the Ebro and the Segre meet near Mequinenza, the rivers have been dammed into two long reservoirs, and the result is a strange, beautiful landscape of blue water filling deep valleys among dry, terraced hills. The rock shelters of Mas de Patriciel lie in the hills between Mequinenza, Nonaspe and Fayón, part of the network of painted sites that UNESCO listed as the Mediterranean rock art of Iberia.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
mas de Patriciel I is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo del Plano del Pulido.
2. Abrigo del Plano del Pulido
South of Caspe, the lower Aragón country is a dry, sculpted landscape of ochre hills, flat-topped mesas and gullies cut into soft sandstone, with almond and olive groves clinging to the valley floors. In these sandstone outcrops, prehistoric people found shelter and left paintings, and the Abrigo del Plano del Pulido is one of the rock shelters of the area included in the World Heritage site of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The painted figures, in the reddish tones of Levantine art, are small and faded, and as at most of these sites, access is controlled and visits may need to be arranged in advance.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo del Plano del Pulido comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de mas del Abogat.
3. Cueva de mas del Abogat
Calaceite is the kind of village that makes you slow down without being asked: honey-coloured stone, arcaded squares, a big baroque church and grand old houses with carved doorways, all perched on a ridge in the Matarraña, the corner of Teruel where Aragón meets Catalonia and Valencia. A few kilometres from it lies the Cueva de Mas del Abogat, one of the painted rock shelters that belong to the UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. As with its sisters across eastern Spain, the paintings are small and often hard to read; the setting is what you take away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 103 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de mas del Abogat. Next is Abric de la Tenalla.
4. Abric de la Tenalla
The Tinença de Benifassà is one of the wildest corners of the Valencian region, a cluster of tiny villages in the mountains where Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon meet, and the Abric de la Tenalla lies on its southeastern edge, near Rosell. It is one of the many rock shelters in this area with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and the nearby Serra de Godall and the Ulldecona shelters to the east are among the most important sites in Catalonia. The landscape is dramatic: limestone cliffs, deep gorges, pine and holm oak forests, and abandoned terraces where shepherds once grazed their flocks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de la Tenalla, about halfway. Next is Abric d'Esquarterades I.
5. Abric d'Esquarterades I
In the dry hills behind Ulldecona, near the southern tip of Catalonia, small figures painted in red ochre run, hunt and gather across the walls of shallow rock shelters. These are the paintings of Levantine rock art, made by prehistoric people some seven to eight thousand years ago, and the shelters of the Serra de Godall, including the Abric d'Esquarterades, are among the best examples. They are part of the World Heritage site that covers rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 478 km.
Leg by leg
mas de Patriciel I to Abrigo del Plano del Pulido
mas de Patriciel I → Abrigo del Plano del Pulido is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Plano del Pulido to Cueva de mas del Abogat
Abrigo del Plano del Pulido → Cueva de mas del Abogat is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de mas del Abogat to Abric de la Tenalla
Cueva de mas del Abogat → Abric de la Tenalla is 94 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Tenalla to Abric d'Esquarterades I
Abric de la Tenalla → Abric d'Esquarterades I is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric d'Esquarterades I to back through Abric de la Tenalla
Abric d'Esquarterades I → back through Abric de la Tenalla is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de la Tenalla to back through Cueva de mas del Abogat
back through Abric de la Tenalla → back through Cueva de mas del Abogat is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de mas del Abogat to back through Abrigo del Plano del Pulido
back through Cueva de mas del Abogat → back through Abrigo del Plano del Pulido is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Plano del Pulido to mas de Patriciel I
back through Abrigo del Plano del Pulido → mas de Patriciel I is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.