the Bardenas Reales·Spain
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · Wikimedia Commons
The Bardenas is a semi-desert unlike anywhere else in Spain — eroded white clay, lone rock towers and film-set emptiness — and its flat gravel tracks are made for a loaded bike.
In season: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Peak: Apr, Oct
Fast, non-technical gravel with almost no shade, water or traffic; heat and afternoon wind are the enemies, and rain turns the clay to glue. A military range closes parts on weekdays.
The desert core past Castildetierra, the badlands everyone photographs
The southern plateau, scrub and escarpment, almost no traffic
Two days north to south with a night in Arguedas
Base in Arguedas or Tudela and carry all your water. Ride the Bardena Blanca loop first; check the firing-range calendar, which closes tracks on some weekdays.
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