Why this ride
239 km from Benissa to Benissa, about 5 h 54 of riding. The stops in between: Barranc del Xorquet, Coves Roges Abric II-III, Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 and Coves Roges Abric I.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pinós and Coves Roges Abric I
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 239 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 54
- 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. Pinós
Inland from the busy coast of the Marina Alta, behind Benissa and Calp, the land folds into a series of steep, terraced valleys where almond and olive trees cling to dry-stone walls and white farmhouses sit among the pines. Pinós is a rural area in the hills near Benissa, Senija and Jalón, and the rides link it to the rock-art shelters of the barrancs, the ravines that cut through the limestone of this region, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean prehistoric art. The exact contents of the nearby shelters are for specialists, but the landscape itself has a quiet, timeless beauty, especially in the soft light of late afternoon.
Read the complete Pinós write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pinós is where the day begins. Next is Barranc del Xorquet.
2. Barranc del Xorquet
Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc del Xorquet comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Coves Roges Abric II-III.
3. Coves Roges Abric II-III
Behind the Costa Blanca, between the beaches and the hills, lies a country of steep limestone valleys, almond terraces and tiny villages that few tourists reach. Coves Roges, the Red Caves, are shelters in the rock near Castell de Castells and Tàrbena, in the Marina Alta, where the Serra d'Aitana rises to over fifteen hundred metres and the Guadalest valley cuts deep into the mountains. Rock shelters here were painted and used in prehistory, and this part of Alicante has some of the best-known Levantine art, such as the shelters at Pla de Petracos not far away.
Read the complete Coves Roges Abric II-III write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Coves Roges Abric II-III. Next is Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2, 17 km on.
4. Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2
Local walkers call it the cathedral of hiking, and once you have seen the Barranc de l'Infern you understand why. This deep limestone gorge, between the Vall de Laguar and the Vall d'Ebo in the mountains behind Dénia, is crossed by an old Moorish mule path that descends and climbs again by thousands of stone steps, carved and built into the rock walls over centuries. The route, a classic day walk, is spectacular and exhausting, with the gorge narrowing at its deepest point to a passage between towering walls. The gorge also holds prehistoric rock art in its shelters, and the sites grouped as Conjunt 2 are among them, part of the wider family of Mediterranean rock art protected by UNESCO.
Read the complete Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2, about halfway. Next is Coves Roges Abric I.
5. Coves Roges Abric I
Planes looks like a village that has been arguing with gravity for a thousand years and winning. Its houses climb a hill crowned by the remains of a Moorish castle, and the whole place overlooks a valley of olive and almond terraces that falls toward the Beniarrés reservoir. The Coves Roges, the red caves, lie in the broken limestone country around here, and the first of their shelters carries prehistoric paintings, part of the scattered rock art of the Valencian mountains. The colour in the name is not poetry: the rock itself is stained a warm iron red.
Read the complete Coves Roges- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coves Roges Abric I sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2, 16 km on.
6. back through Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 comes up about 150 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Coves Roges Abric II-III.
7. back through Coves Roges Abric II-III
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coves Roges Abric II-III write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 181 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Coves Roges Abric II-III. Next is back through Barranc del Xorquet.
8. back through Barranc del Xorquet
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranc del Xorquet, late in the day. Next is Pinós.
9. Pinós
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pinós 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 239 km.
Leg by leg
Pinós to Barranc del Xorquet
Pinós → Barranc del Xorquet is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc del Xorquet to Coves Roges Abric II-III
Barranc del Xorquet → Coves Roges Abric II-III is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coves Roges Abric II-III to Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2
Coves Roges Abric II-III → Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 to Coves Roges Abric I
Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 → Coves Roges Abric I is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coves Roges Abric I to back through Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2
Coves Roges Abric I → back through Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 to back through Coves Roges Abric II-III
back through Barranc de l'Infern Conj. 2 → back through Coves Roges Abric II-III is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Coves Roges Abric II-III to back through Barranc del Xorquet
back through Coves Roges Abric II-III → back through Barranc del Xorquet is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc del Xorquet to Pinós
back through Barranc del Xorquet → Pinós is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Coves Roges Abric II-III and Pinós · 122 km
- Coves Roges Abric I and Pinós · 122 km