Spain · Teruel (Maestrazgo) · Premium route guide
Maestrazgo Silence Loop
212 kilometres around the emptiest corner of Aragon, taking in the whole of the signposted Silent Route one way and the Aliaga badlands, the Pitarque valley and the Fortanete plateau on the way back. Full route on the map, a GPX for your GPS, and the motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted along the way.
- Distance
- 211.5 km
- Peak elevation
- 1,700 m
- Elevation gain
- 3,873 m
- Best months
- Mar-Nov
The route
This is the weekend version of the Silent Route. From Cantavieja you climb over Cuarto Pelado and ride the entire A-1702 west to Gargallo, then loop back through Aliaga, up the Pitarque valley, across to Villarroya de los Pinares and Fortanete, and finish through La Iglesuela del Cid. Around 212 km and close to 3,900 m of cumulative climbing, all of it on quiet regional roads.
Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted, concentrated around Cantavieja and the Maestrazgo villages.
1 verified stay within 30 km of the route. Click a stay pin to see details. Know one that should be here?
Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route, how to load this into your GPS
What you are downloading is a GPX track, a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It is not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zumo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner, new trip from track) if you want turn by turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive, it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it does not re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour, Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these do not read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line, pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~839 m at the base to 1,700 m at the top, 3,873 m of total climbing across the route.
Ridden anticlockwise the loop saves the best light for the canyon section. Cantavieja to Cañada de Benatanduz over the pass takes about half an hour, then the A-1702 unspools west through Villarluengo and Ejulve to Gargallo. That is the famous 66 km, done before lunch.
The return half is less known and just as good. Aliaga sits in a geological park of folded, striped rock that looks unlike anywhere else in Spain. Pitarque is a short in-and-out up a green river valley, and the Pitarque tunnels on the TE-V-8042 towards Aliaga are worth the 5 km detour. From Villarroya de los Pinares the road lifts onto the Fortanete plateau, the highest and barest part of the day, before dropping through La Iglesuela del Cid back to Cantavieja.
The road, honestly
Surfaces range from very good on the A-1702 to patchy on the smaller links around Pitarque and Fortanete, where you get gravel in the corners, frost damage and the occasional cattle grid. Nothing that troubles a road bike ridden with your eyes open, but it is not a place to chase apexes.
The point of the loop is the scale of the emptiness. Whole 30 km stretches have no fuel, no shop and sometimes no phone signal, and the villages you pass through have populations in double digits. Ride within your recovery options and tell someone your plan if you are solo.
When to go, weather and fuel
March to November, with May, June, September and October the best of it. The plateau sections sit above 1,500 m, so mornings are cold well into spring and thunderstorms build fast on summer afternoons. Winter brings fog, ice and occasional snow up on Fortanete.
Fuel in Cantavieja before you leave and again near Gargallo or Aliaga on the western side. Plan food around Villarluengo or Aliaga because kitchens in the small villages close early and often. Pack a layer more than you think you need.
Where to base yourself
Cantavieja, without much debate. It is the biggest town on the loop, it is genuinely beautiful, and it lets you ride the circuit in either direction on consecutive days. Villarluengo and La Iglesuela del Cid are the quieter alternatives if you want to be deeper in the landscape.
If you only have half a day, ride the point-to-point Silent Route instead and skip the western return leg.
What to see along the way
- Cantavieja - Walled medieval town on a ridge. Start, finish, fuel, food and the best place to sleep on the loop.
- Cuarto Pelado - The pass immediately above Cantavieja and the signed eastern end of the Silent Route.
- Organos de Montoro viewpoint - Roadside mirador on the A-1702 facing the rock organ pipes and the Guadalope narrows.
- Aliaga geological park - Folded and tilted rock strata on open display around the village. A short walk from the road is worth it.
- Pitarque tunnels (TE-V-8042) - About 5 km from Pitarque towards Aliaga. Rock-cut tunnels above the river, the most photogenic detour of the day.
- Fortanete plateau - The high, bare section of the return leg. Big skies, stone walls and almost no traffic.
- La Iglesuela del Cid - Stone village of noble houses on the run back into Cantavieja.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Maestrazgo Silence Loop
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Cantavieja - change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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Verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route, no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
Ridden this road and stayed somewhere great?
This whole directory grows one rider recommendation at a time. Add a stay and it will appear on this guide automatically if it is within 30 km of the route.
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