As above, the Mrs and I are heading out with our kids this year, and I don’t want to miss out on decent trails suitable for kids on 20″ hardtails.
Also I take it the chairlifts will take 20″ wheels?
I’ve been a few times before but never really looked into kiddie friendly trails so any advice apart from “do the greens” would be great.
I’m thinking a cycle across from the Pleney to Les Gets then do the 2 green runs a few times and then a swim in the lake would be a nice warm up day….

Any ideas and suggestions for non mtb related must do’s are more than appreciated as I’d like to make the most of the 2 weeks we have there..

Not a trail, but the luge in Morzine is good fun (as in the concrete open pipe that you slide down on a tray). The lady at the top tells you to use the brakes, listen to her!

There are ‘kids trails’ and green trails in Les Gets. Suitable green trails in Chatel too. They should enjoy the ride over as well.

Make sure you take them to les lindarets to see the goats. There is the big lake nearby which you can swim in. Could be nice to ride over and go for a swim (I think the lake’s called la dranse de montriond on google maps)

Some of the lifts which hold the bike by the wheel could be an issue(?)

ha yes we caught a shuttle back to the airport with a guy who had a massive off on the luge, he had no skin on one side of his leg..looked very nasty indeed!

Panoramic should be fun for them at Chatel, I’ve not done the other greens there.

I nearly broke my leg on the luge (I thought I had at the time) it took the skin off the back of my knee which was annoying for trying to put knee pads on for the rest of the week. That’ll teach me not to listen to the lady.

I did Strava it 🙂 I was surprised nobody else had!

(I’m not sure why I’m recommending this for your kids!? Perhaps they are more sensible than I am 😀 )

The white water rafting trip was good.

The open air swimming pool was also a winner.

Both the green and blue from the top of The Pleney would be fine for children.

I’m struggling to find any info on wheelsize limits for the chairlifts.

Yes there is a nice ride over to Lindarets and then down to Lac Montriond (quite steep on the ski pist IIRC but you could go down the road to get to the lake), maybe have a swim or paddle. Then there is a good path back from the lake along the river back to Morzine.

Also there is an adventure playground beside the river and horse riding, tennis, swimming pool, ice skating.

Thanks all.
I’ve been searching for info on the wheel size issue and so far no info at all… I’ll contact the lift operator to seeds what they reckon…

The lifties are pretty good at making it work. We’ve taken kids bikes, trailer bikes and dogs without issue. You won’t be able to ride the chair as a 3 though. One of the kids will need to ride alone or with another adult.

The pool at avoriaz is a must. Quite a fun ride down from there in the new lift too. Stand at the front as it goes over the edge.

There’s a junior go ape in the woods at the bottom of the valley by the stables. There’s also a little skate/scooter park. The ice rink is good for a skate or to watch a hockey match.

There’s also a little skate/scooter park.

Not anymore! There’s a shiny new one on the way! 😀

I dont think there’s any reason that smaller wheels wont fit in the lift scoops. My 29er was more at risk.

The green at Les Gets is a Downhill Green. Not the same as a “trail” green IMO. Still a bit challenging. Depending on your kid’s skillz I guess.

Heading out there with 2 little ones (5.5yr olds but tall and fairly confident on their bikes for their age) this summer so interested too

, theres the pool at morz and the aqua thing at avoriaz, there swimming lakes at montriond and les gets, theres a high ropes thing by the pool in morz. Local is is the Gorges du Pont du Diable, which is a sort of gorge cave thing… all the lifts up to pont nylon, mont cherry, are all good walks / views.. not my fave but theres loads for little ones at avoriaz as its a hotel complex, get the portes pass for 2 euro its worth it… theres loads…without mega expense or overly adventurous ( hello parapente and fantastic able)

The restaurant at Mont Caly above Les Gets you can access by bike on a fire road from Mont Chery lift. Great views from a super terrace. You can take the red back round mont Chery, it has one or two sections you’ll have to help the kids with but most is easily rideable. You can drive up to Mont Caly and/or take the road down.

Lac Joux Plan above Les Gets has great views Mont Blanc and usually has an ice cream van from memory too. Accessed via road from top of Les Gets bike park. You can ride the rutted cow path to Bourgosie (peak/cross) and take a picnic. Do this on a nice day for the view. You can drive up to the lac if you want.

If you don’t a drive Lake Geneva and medieval village of Yvoire is about an hour – quite touristy but worth a wander around. You can take a boat over to pretty Swiss lakeside town of Nyon also.

Zip line between the valleys ,the luge be careful !! There is a go ape very good.

We took our kids age 7+9 2 years ago, I my opinion taking there bikes was a waste of time, like someone else said the greens are dh greens not trail center greens, and my kids were just starting on trail center reds at the time,, having said that it was the best family holiday we have had,, and going back this year,, hopefully they we get on better on there bikes this time.

Thanks for the replies all, lots to get on with.. Mine are fine on trail reds and reckon they should be fine for the less gets green (I think I’ve done that one before).
Just shown them the Skatepark…. Now I’ve got to take their bmx’s too (and my skateboard of course)

My kids started riding morzine quite young. The greens in pleney and Les gets are great for young kids. I found the biggest problem for mine was their hands hurting from breaking. They were using hydro discs…..but had to keep stopping.

I do remember year before we started going to morzine, my oldest tried to ride from Champery to a little practice trail in grand paradis (all on the Swiss size), he was on the road with dad riding a spesh hotrock fsr with v brakes: “I can’t stop” are not words you want to hear!

So, get them set up with a good set of brakes.

No issues using 24″ wheeled bikes in the lifts (stinky 24 and norco b line 24). Seen 20″ wheeled bikes being used too.

The kids will love it, just don’t expect the family trail to be like a green UK trail.

Simone

Simone, we are in the chalet you recommended to me the same day you leave…thanks for the recommend it looks great.
v brakes unfortunately but that’ll get sorted at Christmas when they move up a size!

I’ve taken my 9 year old twice.

There’s a good green route down Les Gets 1, a much harder green down Les Gets 2 – Pleney is good, but can be tricky in the wet and crosses the Red at times which can cause problems. His favourite though is the one down Super Morzine

The Luge IS great fun, but it’s no fool proof, my Wife panicked and pushed the control forward (which takes of the drag brake) instead of pulling it back to brake for a corner and crashed, the surface seems perfectly designed to remove skin – she’s still got a scar 2 years later. However there is 2 routes, one easier than the other and 2 types of luge, one faster than the other and if they’re not silly, they’ll have no problems.

There’s loads of non-bike stuff to do, you can buy these passes for €2 which give you access to untold amounts of stuff.

The first year we went I was paranoid that I’d been selfish and dragged my family alone so I could go riding, I was worried there wouldn’t be anything to do – but in actual fact we struggled for time 5 days went in a blur and we were trying to do 3 activities a day. Even the Lad was gutted to leave for Euro Disney, which in retrospect we all hated compared to Morzine.

good thread this. I’m going out there in August with a 8&10 yr old. Bikes are now set up with hydro brakes and decent tyres, and they all have body armour!

We’ve been in the PDS this week so hopefully this is relatively up to date.

The Green on the Chavannes side is excellent and not too steep. They should be fine, although it already has 20 inch braking bumps in it. The Green on the Mont Chery side is harder and can be tricky in the wet. It is however very short and most of the decent is on tarmac.

There are no greens on the Le Pleney side. We rode the Blue Family trail which shouldn’t cause any problems in the dry but had some slippy rooty sections and a lot of mud after it rained.

There is a run between the Le Pleney and the Les Gets bike park called Les Gets village. It is graded blue but is very easy. Also the red graded 4x might be fine as well. If not the Les Gets village is easy to link with the bottom of the Chavannes green to get you down into Les Gets.

I expect that most of the XC runs will be fine for the kids. We did the black tour de loex and aside from a couple of loose steep sections that are easy to walk round most of it was track. It was stunningly pretty and really worth trying if you can.

We have ridden in Chatel last year. The green panaramic run is excellent and again very pretty. The kids should be fine with it. The second part which is called Serpentine is much steeper and much harder.

Hope this helps. I don’t know any of the other PDS greens. I would be very cautious before attempting any of the blues under the Nauchettes lift as I personally think they are quite hard.

Just checked out the tour de loex on the trail map.. Looks good. Cheers.
Have done panoramic and reckon they’d love that… Not sure about serpentine though…

did the tour de loex the other day, great little loop off the Chavannes lift. Top tip, watch out for the turning through the houses in the village towards the end. I missed it and ended up on a road decent to the bottom of Les Gets.

Cheers stoner

Theres a multiuse trail running out from wherethe pool is in Morzine along the river – seem to remember it being smooth, not too steep and nice and shady

Carlphillips – great, you’ll enjoy it. I will have to stop recommending it, getting too busy ;0). And cheers for booking a Sunday, meant we could sneak in an extra day! We will be there 8-16 August, now getting the bikes ready, can’t wait!

Simone

yes she said you’d be happy…mrs works nights on fri so we cant leave until Saturday afternoon.
Have a great time.