This year my summer biking adventure takes me to France- Alsace/Vosges. Last year my friend and I were biking in the Black Forrest which was far too tame or a bit downhill/all mountain (e.g. Todtnau). As I can only take 1 bike over would like to stick to something in between, say like a UK trail centre. Can anyone make recommendations or know where to find out further information?

Do you really want to go there to ride something like a UK trail centre?

Hey, nothing wrong with the UK trail centres- personally I like most of them. But last year’s biking in the black forest was a bit crap which I think it was just our bad luck/crap map from the tourist office and we probably missed out on some great trails. That’s probably why I would prefer to follow some sign posted designed trail a bit like our UK trail centres. Any ideas?

I’ve done a bit of biking around Remiremont in the Vosges. Remiremont itself has a few marked routes. I’ve only done the black and to be honest it was black for distance rather than anything technical. Nice ride though.

I preferred exploring the forests around the Voie Vert (excuse the spelling), a disused railway line/cycle path that goes through the area. There is some decent stuff in the Foret Domaniale de Longegoutte just off the Voie Vert

lots of recommendations on here
try kayserburg area/ big mountain singletrack NOT like the alps but some bug climbs and twisted woody descents NICE

You will find lots of waymarked trails – just about every town has something – this site covers Western Vosges/Lorraine http://www.tourismevosges.fr/uk/vttpdf.php as we were staying near the lakes at Gerardmer though for tourism / wine and pretty villages Alsace is better to stay IMO – previously we stayed at Freland – some examples of Alsace VTT can be downloaded here http://www.tourisme67.com/circuits-vtt.htm

As MF implies above use the VTT routes only as a guide – they are not purpose built trails and if not careful you could easily spend the whole day on firetrack or descending on road – tho we did find some fantastic bits above Remiremont and also in the woods above the Voie Vert- you need local knowledge or a lot of time studying the 25K maps to get the best riding. There are not built berms and jumps – well not many – what you will get is a variety of footpaths and old forest tracks – often linking picturesque towns and villages.

Everywhere has Randonee routes marked with coloured signs and a little time spent pouring over the 25k maps will be well rewarded. Our best ride was a marked sentier almost from the door of the Gite with leg burning climbs and superb descents.

There is someone who posts on here with local knowledge – can’t remember who but a forum search may work.

This thread could be a summer changer for us! We usually go to Alsace for Flammkuchen and wine on the way to Austria or Switzerland but now we might stay for some biking! Anyone got any other info of where to go riding in Alsace? If there aren’t any guides then I’ll find the trails myself and set myself up if it’s that good!

I live in Basel. 45 mins from the Vosges. There is shedloads of great singletrack there.

My advice would be to…

1) Go to, and stay in Thann.

2) Buy the local 1:25000 map which has all the singletrack marked on it.

3) Explore !

If you do a forum search under “Vosges” and “Ash”, you may find some of my photos.

Hi Ash thanks for your advice. Couldn’t agree more with just getting out and explore, but if I try this approach I’m highly likely to repeat what happened on last year’s trip to the Black Forest- miles of forest fire road :|. Also being from the north of Scotland I’m used to some very easy terrain to navigate owing to the lower elevation of tree line and a general lack of quality forest. Now being in a thick forest and having to stop and check a map every 5 minutes isn’t my cup of tea. In that situation I would probably convince myself that I know where I’m going and keep riding only to get lost and not find the great single track :cry:. Is the answer to that a GPS or smart phone, something else? I will try to find out further info on the place you mentioned- Thann. Incidentally, why there in particular?

arnt Foret Blanc, La Besse and Metabief in the Vosges?

Ta Ianv for the info, but unfortunately I think that Metabief is in the Jura and just a wee bit too far for me to go. What are the other two locations like?

LAC Blanc and La Bresse both have good stuff, with uplifts.

As a general point for the Vosges (including for Thann) the maps show the singletrack very clearly, and in general they are waymarked walking routes with specific shapes on the map which correspond with very good signs a junctions. So, it’s hard to get lost, and you really don’t have to check the map every five minutes.

I can give you some info on specific trails if you ping me an email (sapaudia AT gmail DOT com) but you may have to bear with me a while as I’m silly busy right now :-/

I stayed in Hohwald for a weekend last year, followed a few trails I found on gpsies.com, they were quite pleasant, not the most technically demanding but I would go to the alps for that. I find it very easy to lose my bearing riding in forests (all trees pretty much look alike) so prefer to use GPS.

I will be going back for a weekend this year as well.

I’ll support what Ash said. I rode there with him about this time last year and the trails were pretty damn good. Some really fast and flowy stuff down there. I’ve got the 1:25000 map of the area and can concur that the trails are on it and a wee bit of exploring should get you some really natural trail riding.

Munkyfunster- thanks for the info. I hope I make it to the Foret Domaniale de Longegoutte, but who knows?

Lac Blanc bike parkThanks for the recommendation for the kayserburg area as it’s near Orbey and the Lac Blanc MTB centre. Anyone been there?

Yes, I’ve been to Lac Blanc. It’s OK, but you’ll be bored after a day. It has 200m vertical.

Seriously, Thann and the Thur valley. So much good riding.

Freland we stayed at freland or just nearby, owner had a vineyard, brilliant area!