CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Benassal it runs 299 km to Benassal; allow about 6 h 30 of riding. The stops in between: Els Covarxos, Barranco de Gibert II, Racó de Nando and Barranco de Gibert I. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
There is a small triangle of country in the Alt Maestrat, between Benassal, Catí and Albocàsser, where the hills fold into narrow ravines and the stone walls of old terraces climb every slope. Racó d'en Gil, a name meaning something like Gil's corner, lies in this landscape, and it sits within easy reach of the Valltorta gorge, the place that put Levantine rock art on the map.
Read the complete Racó d'en Gil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Racó d'en Gil is where the day begins. Next is Els Covarxos.
Culla stands on a hilltop in the interior of Castellón, a medieval village of stone houses and narrow lanes wrapped around the remains of a castle. In the thirteenth century, after the Christian conquest, the area was granted to the Knights Templar, and later to the Order of Montesa, which explains the old walls and the sense of a place built for defence. Below the village, among the ravines and terraces, the rock shelter of Els Covarxos holds prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like many such shelters, it is protected and not easy to find on your own; enquire locally before setting off on foot.
Read the complete Els Covarxos write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Els Covarxos comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranco de Gibert II.
Up on the roof of the Maestrazgo, where Teruel and Castellón meet, the land rises above fourteen hundred metres into a bleak, beautiful plateau of pasture, pine and limestone. Mosqueruela, on the Aragonese side, is one of the highest villages in the area, and Vilafranca, on the Valencian side, sits in a valley below. The Barranco de Gibert cuts into the hills between them, close also to La Iglesuela del Cid, and its second shelter holds prehistoric paintings.
Read the complete Barranco de Gibert II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranco de Gibert II. Next is Racó de Nando.
Racó means corner in Valencian, and this really is a corner: a fold in the limestone hills between Benassal, Culla and Vilafranca, in the interior of Castellón where the coast's crowds feel a continent away. The rock shelter here is one of the many small sites of Levantine prehistoric painting that together make up a UNESCO World Heritage listing, and like most of them it is modest, fenced and best seen with a local guide. What lingers is less the painting than the idea of hunters choosing this exact overhang, with water close by and a view down the valley, and leaving their mark on it.
Read the complete Racó de Nando write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Racó de Nando, about halfway. Next is Barranco de Gibert I.
The Maestrazgo is a name that should be said slowly, because it covers a huge and rugged region in the borderlands of Teruel and Castellón, and Mosqueruela lies in its heart. The village is among the highest in the province, well over a thousand metres up, in a country of pine forest, stone farmhouses and wide grassy valleys. The Barranco de Gibert, a ravine nearby, holds painted shelters with Levantine art, and one of the numbered sites is the subject here. It is part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean basin, and one of the highest and most remote of its kind.
Read the complete Barranco de Gibert I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Barranco de Gibert I sits at 69 km, about halfway. Next is back through Racó de Nando.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó de Nando write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Racó de Nando comes up about 195 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Barranco de Gibert II.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranco de Gibert II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 230 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Barranco de Gibert II. Next is back through Els Covarxos.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Els Covarxos write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Els Covarxos, late in the day. Next is Racó d'en Gil.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó d'en Gil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 299 km.
Racó d'en Gil → Els Covarxos is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Els Covarxos → Barranco de Gibert II is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranco de Gibert II → Racó de Nando is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Racó de Nando → Barranco de Gibert I is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranco de Gibert I → back through Racó de Nando is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Racó de Nando → back through Barranco de Gibert II is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranco de Gibert II → back through Els Covarxos is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Els Covarxos → Racó d'en Gil is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.