Spain Cave with prehistoric art World Heritage
Rock art of Ruta los Estrechos
16 °C inside, all year.
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30
The descent
The entrance, at 420 m.
The real relief above Rock art of Ruta los Estrechos, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.
420m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
16°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
184m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
16 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 16 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 34 °C at the entrance, 19 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from June to September. The wettest months are from April to May and from October to November: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 12°2°Jan
- 13°2°Feb
- 17°5°Mar
- 20°7°Apr
- 25°11°May
- 31°16°Jun
- 34°18°Jul
- 34°18°Aug
- 28°14°Sep
- 23°11°Oct
- 15°6°Nov
- 12°3°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Arte rupestre de la Ruta los Estrechos
Rock art of Ruta los Estrechos is a cave with prehistoric art in Spain. The entrance is at 420 m. It has an underground river. It is closed to the public to protect it. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- No public accessProtected for science or for its art. Look for a replica or a visitor centre nearby.
- Albalate del Arzobisponearest town · 4.8 km in a straight line
- Mirador de los Estrechosnearest viewpoint · 0.2 km from the entrance
- Zaragoza Airport (ZAZ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 77 km in a straight lineCar hire at CDT airport (Castellón de la Plana)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The water
The Río Martín runs highest from April to May and in November.
The Río Martín carries about 0.43 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from April to May and in November. It is lowest from July to August.
- 0.5 m³/sJan
- 0.4 m³/sFeb
- 0.7 m³/sMar
- 1.0 m³/sApr
- 0.9 m³/sMay
- 0.6 m³/sJun
- 0.3 m³/sJul
- 0.2 m³/sAug
- 0.4 m³/sSep
- 0.7 m³/sOct
- 0.9 m³/sNov
- 0.6 m³/sDec
From about 0.19 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.97 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 1,264 km².
The Martín River from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 2other cave entrances within 3 kmCueva de los Chaparros II, Grutas de los Chaparros
- 4viewpoints within 3 kmMirador de los Chaparros, Mirador de los Estrechos and 2 more
- 3marked hiking routes within 3 kmSendero del Río Martín, Camino del Maestrazgo-Bajo Aragón, Sendero de la canal
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmAzud los Estrechos
- 1campsites within 8 kmAlbalate del Arzobispo Area de Autocaravanas
- 11hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHostal Los Cinco Arcos, Albergue Municipal, Casa Rural El Molino del Castillo and 8 more
- springs within 2 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- car parks within 2 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Albalate del Arzobispo4.8 km in a straight line
- Ariño7.5 km in a straight line
- Híjar12 km in a straight line
- Alloza13 km in a straight line
- Andorra15 km in a straight line
- Alacón15 km in a straight line
- Oliete15 km in a straight line
- Samper de Calanda17 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Rock art of Ruta los Estrechos.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Riveryas1 rivers at the entranceFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 12 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 25 | 31 | 34 | 34 | 28 | 23 | 15 | 12 |
| Afternoon | 12 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 25 | 31 | 34 | 34 | 28 | 23 | 15 | 12 |
| Night | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 3 |
| Rain (mm) | 24 | 19 | 35 | 46 | 45 | 32 | 19 | 21 | 35 | 42 | 42 | 19 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.8 | 6.5 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 10.1 | 11.5 | 12.2 | 10.8 | 8.9 | 6.9 | 5.2 | 4.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 12 | 12 | 2 | 24 | 4.8 |
| Feb | 13 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 6.5 |
| Mar | 17 | 17 | 5 | 35 | 7.7 |
| Apr | 20 | 20 | 7 | 46 | 8.6 |
| May | 25 | 25 | 11 | 45 | 10.1 |
| Jun | 31 | 31 | 16 | 32 | 11.5 |
| Jul | 34 | 34 | 18 | 19 | 12.2 |
| Aug | 34 | 34 | 18 | 21 | 10.8 |
| Sep | 28 | 28 | 14 | 35 | 8.9 |
| Oct | 23 | 23 | 11 | 42 | 6.9 |
| Nov | 15 | 15 | 6 | 42 | 5.2 |
| Dec | 12 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 4.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (420 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 365% | 2% | 216% | 204% | 131% | 248% | 46% | 55% | 59% | 36% | 195% | 118% |
| 2021 | 169% | 102% | 20% | 131% | 79% | 197% | 94% | 232% | 188% | 63% | 204% | 52% |
| 2022 | 24% | 11% | 253% | 108% | 67% | 34% | 115% | 116% | 117% | 45% | 95% | 205% |
| 2023 | 55% | 107% | 12% | 14% | 88% | 231% | 84% | 32% | 128% | 63% | 31% | 87% |
| 2024 | 135% | 115% | 128% | 32% | 60% | 160% | 143% | 186% | 245% | 283% | 76% | 33% |
| 2025 | 49% | 53% | 237% | 86% | 76% | 120% | 215% | 50% | 151% | 187% | 64% | 284% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Rock art of Ruta los Estrechos
Spain
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 420 mEntrance altitude
- 16 °CInside, all year
Frontón de la Tía Chula
Spain · 15 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 523 mEntrance altitude
- 15 °CInside, all year
Abrigo del Plano del Pulido
Spain · 43 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 246 mEntrance altitude
- 16 °CInside, all year
Roca dels Moros
Spain · 63 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 496 mEntrance altitude
- 15 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q128989037) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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