Barranc de la Valltorta

The Barranc de la Valltorta is a limestone gorge with steep walls and many caves, about 3 km south of the village of Tírig. Prehistoric hunters used its shelters and left paintings that today form one of the best known rock-art groups in Spain.

The rock art

The first painted caves were found in 1917: Cova dels Cavalls, Coves del Civil, Mas d'en Josep and La Saltadora, joined in 1934 by Cova Remigia in La Gassulla. The gorge holds 92 rock-art stations of the Mediterranean Arc, declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 1998. Since 11 November 2016 the group forms the Valltorta-Gassulla Cultural Park, a protected cultural site of about 82 km2 across 8 municipalities, including Tírig, Ares del Maestrat and Morella.

The visit

The starting point is the Valltorta Museum, at Pla de l'Om, 1.5 km south of Tírig on the CV-131. The shelters are visited with a guide from the museum at fixed times: the Cova dels Cavalls, for instance, takes 1 hour for a 1.1 km walk. The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10 to 14 and 16 to 18 from October to April, and 10 to 14 and 17 to 20 from May to September. You can only get there by car.

Tips for your visit

• Check each shelter timetable before leaving, it changes with the season.
• Wear closed shoes and carry water: the approaches are shadeless dirt paths.
• Keep the morning for the museum and the afternoon for a guided shelter.
• Round off the day with the Muela de Ares, in the same cultural park.