Adventure bike routes in Alicante
Text reviewed on October 16, 2026 · OpenStreetMap data from October 8, 2026
The province of Alicante has 12,171 km of mapped dirt track and 23,879 km of unpaved ways: 58 % of its network is dirt, less than Valencia or Castellón because there is a lot of coast and a lot of tarmac. The hills are in the north: Mariola, Aitana, Serrella, the Vall de Gallinera and the Foia de Castalla. OpenStreetMap figures from October 2026.
Whole region:Valencian Community
What the terrain is like
Alicante holds two provinces. North of the Vinalopó are the hills: Mariola (Banyeres, Alcoi, Bocairent), the Foia de Castalla with Onil and Castalla, and the ranges of Aitana, Serrella and Aixortà down to the Vall de Gallinera and Pego. Pine-forest tracks and stone terraces, short steep climbs, and heights above 1,500 m on Aitana, the top of the province.
To the south and along the coast, most of the dirt-track kilometres are farm lanes of the Vinalopó, the Camp d'Elx and the Vega Baja: flat, loose surface, no climbs. They add up to a lot in the table and very little in fun, though they help link hills without tarmac.
More than half of the tracks have no surface tagged in OpenStreetMap and there are 7,862 km of singletrack, off-limits to motorbikes across the whole region; on Aitana and Serrella quite a few tracks end in singletrack, so the planner leans on mountain roads to close the routes.
The terrain in figures
What is mapped in OpenStreetMap as of October 2026, scored with the same difficulty model the planner uses. Ways that cross the boundary count only for the part inside.
- Unpaved ways (dirt tracks, lanes and singletrack)
- 23,879 km
- Paved roads and streets
- 17,166 km
- Share of the network that is dirt
- 58 %
- Of which, dirt tracks
- 12,171 km
- Very firm dirt track437 km
- Firm dirt track2,354 km
- Rough dirt track1,895 km
- Very rough dirt track369 km
- Barely passable dirt track86 km
- No surface data7,029 km
- Other dirt lanes (rural, service)
- 3,847 km
- Singletrack and footpaths (almost always off-limits to motorbikes)
- 7,862 km
- Easy12,088 km
- Medium3,172 km
- Hard725 km
- Expert33 km
- Mapped fords
- 2,384 (2,340 points and 44 sections)
- Elevation (terrain model, approximate)
- from 0 to 1,550 m
- Fuel stations
- 463
- Bars and restaurants
- 6,666
Dirt tracks by surface (as tagged in OpenStreetMap):
Difficulty of tracks and lanes, singletrack excluded · average 22/100
Each way's difficulty comes from its surface, grade, condition and the real slope from the terrain model, in the easier direction; singletrack is left out of that average because on a motorbike it is almost never an option. Fords are the ones somebody has mapped in OpenStreetMap: there are more. It is all public, crowd-sourced data: it may not match what you find.
Routes to get started
Five routes with no singletrack: a three-hour loop through the Foia de Castalla for a big bike, the route with the most dirt in the province between Xixona and Sella, a short one over Mariola, the Aitana one towards Guadalest and the Vall de Gallinera down to Pego.
Calculated with Corally's planner with no singletrack and at the level shown; times are riding time at adventure-bike pace, no stops. They are saved: the link does not expire.
Trail level · a bit of spice
Castalla → Banyeres de Mariola
Short and pleasant, from Castalla to Banyeres over the tracks around Mariola. For an afternoon, or to start with.
- Distance
- 19 km
- Time
- 31 min
- Dirt
- 67 %
- Max. difficulty
- 34/100 · Medium
- Climb
- +444 m
- Warnings
- 5 warnings · 5 fords
Trail level · a bit of spice
Xixona → Sella
From Xixona to Sella over hilly tracks: the route with the most dirt in the province. For a trail bike that wants to work.
- Distance
- 39 km
- Time
- 58 min
- Dirt
- 69 %
- Max. difficulty
- 41/100 · Medium
- Climb
- +945 m
- Warnings
- 6 warnings · 2 fords
Trail level · a bit of spice
Planes → Pego
The Vall de Gallinera and the hills towards Pego, with a ford and climbs. Mountain road and dirt in equal parts.
- Distance
- 51 km
- Time
- 1 h 8 min
- Dirt
- 39 %
- Max. difficulty
- 54/100 · Hard
- Climb
- +767 m
- Warnings
- 14 warnings · 11 fords
Trail level · a bit of spice
Relleu → El Castell de Guadalest
Towards Guadalest over the Aitana tracks: steep climbs and rough sections. Not much dirt, but what there is needs hands.
- Distance
- 55 km
- Time
- 1 h 15 min
- Dirt
- 35 %
- Max. difficulty
- 45/100 · Medium
- Climb
- +1,105 m
- Warnings
- 7 warnings · 5 fords
Maxitrail level · take it easy
Bucle desde Castalla
Three-hour loop through the Foia de Castalla and its hills, with four fords and some climbing. Half dirt, half mountain road.
- Distance
- 136 km
- Time
- 3 h 4 min
- Dirt
- 39 %
- Max. difficulty
- 44/100 · Medium
- Climb
- +1,203 m
- Warnings
- 12 warnings · 9 fords
Fords and crossings to watch
This region has 2,384 fords mapped in OpenStreetMap. The planner and the roadbook warn about them and tell apart the ones that carry water from the ones that may (ramblas and gullies that run dry most of the year).
Alicante's fords are nearly all dry gullies: the Monnegre, the ones dropping from Aitana and Serrella towards the Guadalest and the Amadorio, and the ramblas of the Vinalopó. After a cold-drop storm they carry water and stone for a few days; the rest of the year they are one more uneven section.
In the Vall de Gallinera and towards Pego the Gallinera and Girona rivers do carry water in winter: the planner flags them as fords with water.
What the rules say in Valencian Community
- The Valencian Community rules apply: open forest tracks 2 metres wide or more, registered bike, 30 km/h; no footpaths, no cross-country, no livestock trails, and no enduro or trials bikes or motocross tyres (Decree 91/2023, arts. 112 and 113).
- Mariola, the Font Roja and the Montgó are natural parks with their own plan: tracks closed with a chain or a sign are not to be passed, and in summer there are days when the hills are closed for fire risk.
The rules in Valencian Community, explained article by article →
Base towns, fuel and food
Banyeres de Mariola and Onil have mountain track, fuel and somewhere to eat: the most convenient bases. Relleu, Planes and Alfafara sit in the middle of the best terrain but have no fuel station: you fill up in Alcoi, Xixona or Pego.
Ranked by kilometres of hilly dirt track (sustained climb or descent of 6 % or more) within about 8 km. Fuel stations within 5 km and bars or restaurants within 3 km, according to OpenStreetMap. The region has 463 fuel stations and 6,666 places to eat mapped.
| Town | Hilly track (8 km) | Fuel (5 km) | Food (3 km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banyeres de Mariola | 465 km | 3 | 13 |
| Onil | 382 km | 5 | 7 |
| Relleu | 373 km | 0 | 8 |
| Alfafara | 372 km | 0 | 3 |
| Planes | 365 km | 0 | 7 |
| San Miguel de Salinas | 362 km | 4 | 22 |
Plan your own
Set a start and an end (or a loop by time) in Alicante, pick your level and Corally gives you the route over dirt tracks with the difficulty of every section, the fords, the road exits for the group and the roadbook. You can try it without an account.
Page written by Corally with the figures from its database (OpenStreetMap and public terrain models) and routes calculated with its planner. It is public, crowd-sourced data: difficulty, fords and tracks may not match the ground. What you find on arrival, the signs, the closures and each region's rules always win.