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 254 km round trip from Mequinensa / Mequinenza - roughly 5 h 34 in the saddle. The stops in between: Abrigo del Plano del Pulido, Abric del mas de Barberà, Los Estrechos I and back through Abric del mas de Barberà. 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 Abric del mas de Barberà.
3. Abric del mas de Barberà
Alcañiz is the capital of the Bajo Aragón, a region of olive groves, cereal fields and dry hills crossed by the Guadalope river in the south-east of Aragón. The town is crowned by a castle built for the Order of Calatrava, now a parador, and its main square, with a Gothic loggia and the town hall, is one of the finest in the region. The shelter of the Mas de Barberà lies in the hills just outside town, toward Castelserás and Calanda.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del mas de Barberà. Next is Los Estrechos I.
4. Los Estrechos I
Los Estrechos means the narrows, and the name fits the country around Albalate del Arzobispo, in the Bajo Aragón, where the Martín river squeezes through limestone gorges on its way to the Ebro. The landscape is dry and open, a mixture of olive groves, almond terraces and low scrub, with sudden canyons and cliffs. The Martín valley is protected as a cultural park, because it holds a remarkable series of rock shelters with Levantine and Schematic paintings, some of which belong to the Mediterranean-arc group that UNESCO listed in 1998.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
mas de Patriciel I closes the day.
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 Abric del mas de Barberà
Abrigo del Plano del Pulido → Abric del mas de Barberà is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas de Barberà to Los Estrechos I
Abric del mas de Barberà → Los Estrechos I is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Los Estrechos I to back through Abric del mas de Barberà
Los Estrechos I → back through Abric del mas de Barberà is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas de Barberà to back through Abrigo del Plano del Pulido
back through Abric del mas de Barberà → back through Abrigo del Plano del Pulido is 28 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.