# where is the single track near Bern, Switzerland?



## sharcsplean (Jun 3, 2004)

So I am living near Bern, and I figure with all these grat mountains, there should be some good single track... but no one will tell me where to ride. Yes I know the one DH trail on the Gorton. The Belpberg is all fire roads. I don't have time to drive to Morzine every weekend, but there has to be some riding close to the bern/Belp area - please help me out!!! I am tired of fire roads.


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## swaussie (Jul 23, 2007)

I live in Zug so I dont know Bern/Belp very well but try out google earth, rotate until you have the 3d view and search around for some mountains. Seems to me the Thun area has some decent mountains which must have trails/walking tracks on them. I dont know if that is too far from you? Failing that ask at your local bike shop. Good luck.


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## CaptainCogset (Jan 25, 2004)

This company has some good maps for trails in switzerland:
http://www.singletrailmap.ch/singletrailmap/index.php


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## [email protected] (Jan 31, 2005)

maybe you ask here http://www.bern-bike.ch/ 
for a guided tour of local tracks & trails in the bern region
he posted the link in the swiss forum, http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showthread.php?t=300832


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## jk (May 29, 2004)

Resurrecting an old thread instead of starting a new one. I live north of Bern about 30 minutes and have come to the conclusion that the Swiss (possibly most euros) do not make mtb-specific singletrack like I've ridden in the US. In the US we (mtn bikers) make trails for biking. Twisty-turny trails that use the landscape and flow well for bikes. There does not have to be huge mtns for fun singletrack. Its great to hammer up, down and around a technical piece of trail that turns around trees, goes over rocks, roots, stumps and has logovers etc. 
There are some good downhill trails I've found in the Jura and I know there are great high alpine trails in the Alps, but for the most part it is all downhill specific. I find it odd that there aren't a ton of singletrack trails in and around the "flatland" part of the country. 
I think I'm going to buy a rake and rake out some in the forest nearest me. Not sure if the local officials would really care considering how they tend to just plow through forests with heavy machinery and rip trees out left and right, but I'm going to give it a shot anyhow. 

If anyone here has found purpose built singletrack here in der Schweiz please messege me!


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## collideous (Jul 1, 2006)

Historically, Switzerland always had a well established and well maintained hiking network that spans the whole country. When mountain biking came along in the mid eighties, people took their bikes to those hiking trails. In the beginning people armed themselves with hiking maps, later cycling specific maps came to market that provided additional information valuable to cyclists. With a vast network of trails folks never thought about building additional trails. It was only with the arrival and increased popularity of downhill bikes, that DH-bikers got organized, got the necessary permits and built downhill courses here and there.

If you're looking for singletrails in the flatter parts of our region, I have to think hard. There aren't really all that many. Your best bet is along creeks and rivers. Have you checked out the old Aare from Büren to Lyss?

For singletrail maps take a look here.


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## jk (May 29, 2004)

Not necessarily looking for flatter, just mtb specific. Not sure if you rode any while you lived in the US, but if you did you probably know that its not just DHers that build singletrack. I've riden extensive networks from Cali to Vermont and pretty much all were built around the mtb wheel. While we do have fantastic scenery here it would be nice for some twisty turny flowy st. I have ridden the Alte Aare and its a nice ride with a short section or two of the good stuff, but its still not enough to have a decent loop. If you ever think about an mtb vacation where the mrs could go sightseeing while you ride check out this place Kingdom Trails Association



collideous said:


> Historically, Switzerland always had a well established and well maintained hiking network that spans the whole country. When mountain biking came along in the mid eighties, people took their bikes to those hiking trails. In the beginning people armed themselves with hiking maps, later cycling specific maps came to market that provided additional information valuable to cyclists. With a vast network of trails folks never thought about building additional trails. It was only with the arrival and increased popularity of downhill bikes, that DH-bikers got organized, got the necessary permits and built downhill courses here and there.
> 
> If you're looking for singletrails in the flatter parts of our region, I have to think hard. There aren't really all that many. Your best bet is along creeks and rivers. Have you checked out the old Aare from Büren to Lyss?
> 
> For singletrail maps take a look here.


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## ir12daveor (May 17, 2007)

There are so many trails in Switzerland there is no need to build the kind of trails you are talking about. There is a whole network of hiking trails throughout the country which are perfect for mountian biking. Some are flowy, some are techy it just takes a map and some exploration to go find them.

I don't know the area around Bern too well, but I know there is some riding on Gurten (not just the freeride trail) and some tours in the woods there too. One hour from Bern on the train and you have Wallis which has more amazing single track than you could explore in two life times.

Just north of you is the Jura which is a bit more hit and miss, but with routes like Creux du Vans and Chasseral available there it's definiitely not shabby for mountain biking either. I'd imagine there is some good riding in Frutigen too and I know of some great trails not too far from Meiringen/Hassliberg. I've heard of some good stuff near Spiez too.

People dream about riding the kind of stuff we have here in Switzerland. The trails are never the same, the have so many natural features to play with and challenge you. They are far better than any of the "purpose built" trails I have ever ridden.

There is so much here, get out and explore. It's AWESOME.

The start of the trail in the video below is just about an hour train ride from Bern. It's got everything from flow to tech and is only a drop in the ocean of what's out there.

Wallis on Vimeo


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## jk (May 29, 2004)

Just curious where you've ridden purpose built trails?

I've been to the Chasseral and its a good ride. There is definitely lots of mtb'ing in Switzerland. I'm not debating that. Your video, which is awesome, is all DH and this is what I'm talking about. You probably took a lift to the top of a mountain and rode the bike down. There is a ton of that here and it is, as you said, stuff that people dream about. However, I don't have the time to get on a train or in a car and spend the entire day traveling to/from ski resorts...wish I did. Another thing is that, in your video, other than switchbacks, you are just going straight. Thats the problem with hiking trails...they are straight until you get to a switchback and then they are straight again. 
Also, I live in the "flat part", if you will, of Switzerland where there are forests with rolling hills everywhere. The problem is that, even in the Jura, 80+% of the riding is on double track, fire roads, and dirt roads. One could easily ride a cross bike on all this stuff. There is very little tight twisty technical singletrack where one would actually use the side knobs of their tires...might as well shave them off and save a few grams.



ir12daveor said:


> There are so many trails in Switzerland there is no need to build the kind of trails you are talking about. There is a whole network of hiking trails throughout the country which are perfect for mountian biking. Some are flowy, some are techy it just takes a map and some exploration to go find them.
> 
> I don't know the area around Bern too well, but I know there is some riding on Gurten (not just the freeride trail) and some tours in the woods there too. One hour from Bern on the train and you have Wallis which has more amazing single track than you could explore in two life times.
> 
> ...


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## ir12daveor (May 17, 2007)

jk said:


> Just curious where you've ridden purpose built trails?


 I've ridden purpose built trails in my home country which in my personal opinion were rubbish. They are prepared to be ridden by anyone and therefore have very little technical challenge, yes they are twisty, but they offer very little in the way of decent natural technical features. It's a manufactured experience compared to the masses of choice we have here in Switzerland. I've also ridden a lot of the DH/Freeride stuff here in CH and in Portes du Soleil. Whether it's XC or DH give me natural stuff any day as opposed to a purpose built manufactured trail of any type. (But that's just me, I know others prefer built stuff)



jk said:


> I've been to the Chasseral and its a good ride. There is definitely lots of mtb'ing in Switzerland. I'm not debating that. Your video, which is awesome, is all DH and this is what I'm talking about. You probably took a lift to the top of a mountain and rode the bike down.


This isn't true, the trail in the video has about 350m of climbing over it's length (much more if that's what want that). In fact there are only two areas on the entire length of the trail (close to 20km!) where it consistently goes downhill and one of them is the switchbacks at the end. I don't actually ride DH much at all, I would consider the type of riding I do to be more all mountain/enduro. I might actually ride a proper DH or Freeride course a hand full of times a year, the rest of the time is natural single track. Even if I do take a lift to the top of a mountain I quite often ride up from the top of the life so I would consider the kind of riding I do trail riding rather than DH. All I want to do is maximise the time I spend on single track and sometimes lifts are a useful aid to do this. The trail on the video we stepped off the BLS train and straight onto the trail. In fact, I'd compare the trail in the video to Chasseral in terms of what it's like to ride. For the most part Chasseral has a little less exposure though.



jk said:


> There is a ton of that here and it is, as you said, stuff that people dream about. However, I don't have the time to get on a train or in a car and spend the entire day traveling to/from ski resorts...wish I did. Another thing is that, in your video, other than switchbacks, you are just going straight. Thats the problem with hiking trails...they are straight until you get to a switchback and then they are straight again.


Again I disagree with this. Hiking trails tend to follow the contour of the land, there are very few places here where the countryside is totally straight. Yes a lot of the turns on the trail in the video are flat turns rather than manufactured banked turns and you very often have nothing on the outside of the turn if it's a balcony trail. To say it is straight is just not true. (Remember the video shows 4 minutes of a 2 hour ride) Also only a fraction of the riding over here is in ski resorts... even when it is you always have a choice of using one of the manufactured "freeride" runs or riding away from the lifts and doing tours (with or without lift assistance) on natural single track. There is so much varied terrain everything from flowy woodland single-track to very technical blocked up alpine terrain... and most trails have it all wrapped up in one. 

Also, I've given you options that are just over an hour from you. That's hardly a day in the car. The ride in the video is a perfect half day ride. You could get the first train in the morning do the trail and be home mid or early afternoon from Bern. I live on the other side of Zurich and did it as a day trip last Monday (and got some other trails in the afternoon too!) with little or no trouble. The mapping in Switzerland is superb. If you look at any of the Topo maps or this website it is so easy to put day long single trail rides together. I can ride out from my door and do a 30km ride with about 1000m of climbing and close to 20km of that is single trail. I don't live in a ski resort, just a sleepy little town about 30km from Zurich. I've ridden some great XC routes in the areas around Baden too and heard that similar exists in and around Bern.



jk said:


> Also, I live in the "flat part", if you will, of Switzerland where there are forests with rolling hills everywhere. The problem is that, even in the Jura, 80+% of the riding is on double track, fire roads, and dirt roads. One could easily ride a cross bike on all this stuff. There is very little tight twisty technical singletrack where one would actually use the side knobs of their tires...might as well shave them off and save a few grams.


 Yes there are lots of fireroads, but there is also lots of single track. Like I said the Jura is a bit hit and miss sometimes, in my opinion a bit more hit and miss than some other areas, but there are still some really great trails there. I need to get out and explore the place a bit more though.

For me tight twisty technical is Switchbacks and the like. A flowy trail is where you are going to get the bike banked over onto it's side knobs and really rail a turn. These trails do exist and to be honest I've found a lot of that kind of stuff just hidden in the forest when out exploring and not marked up on any maps. (Mind you the open MTB maps are also sometimes good for this)

Why not go to the Wednesday night rides with Veloplus in Bern. Samuel who leads a lot of them is a mountain bike guide and should know a number of trails in the area. It's free and he's told me about some good trails in the area.

For me when I go home I don't bring a bike anymore because after the amazing single track we have here the manufactured stuff just isn't fun.

Sorry if I come across a bit direct. I don't mean to. When I came here first I did have a bit of trouble finding stuff, but as I got to know the country more, learned German, met some people and figured out the lie of the land I found more and more really amazing stuff. It also changed my view on what mountain biking really is quite simply because I'd never experienced terrain like we have here before. That's why I organise group rides on a regular basis and why I started my website so that I could show people how much really really cool stuff there is here in Switzerland. At the start it was a bit more hit and miss, but it does get better. The more you learn the area the more you find. I'm still finding new trails in my home woods!


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## collideous (Jul 1, 2006)

jk, now that we have daylight-savings, I'd be more than happy to show you what's around Biel if you can get away for a few hours in the evening. I always try to ride as much single-track as possible, but as you very well know, fire roads are sometimes the only way to get up our steep slopes. Certainly true that any hiking trail around here isn't nearly as twisty as a biker might wish. Hikers don't go hiking to run around trees  They're the point A to B kinda folks. In fact, I would argue that a large portion on European mountain bikers ride with just that mindset.


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## jk (May 29, 2004)

Thanks for all the info guys. Right now I can't make any rides during the week as I'm a stay at home dad and the wife takes our only car. Maybe if she lets me off the leash one of these weekends I'll make it out somewhere.


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## allanknabe (Oct 7, 2008)

Lads,

Firstly I have some fantastic news, yes I'm going to be moving to Bern!

I'll give you a minute to calm down, but in the meantime I'll give you my two pennies worth here... Moving from the UK to Munich came as a bit of a shock, in Munich all the local forests are so manicured that there are no "Natural" tracks so to speak, take my local forest the "Perlacher", it's immaculately gridded, so much so that there are very few "Natural" tracks so to speak. Compared to my home forest in the UK the "Chase" it's a completely different picture, you can find some really great singletrail to ride out there without really trying at all. Now when a bunch of guys decided to build some man made trails I thought they were crazy, that was until I rode them recently, I have to say they built some world class trails there and I've been riding in a lot of places. So I guess what I'm saying is that yes, natural trails are fantastic, but never be afraid to pick up a shovel and go make some of your own.

So, colldieous, I'd like to take you up on your offer to go ride some trails one evening.

jk, I'll introduce my Mrs to your Mrs when she moves over, if they hit it off they can babysit whilst we go riding!

Cheers,

Al.


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## jk (May 29, 2004)

Sounds good, Al. Keep us posted!


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## collideous (Jul 1, 2006)

allanknabe said:


> So, colldieous, I'd like to take you up on your offer to go ride some trails one evening.


Al, just let us know when you get here. JK and I are about half an hour north of Bern.


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## pmo (May 22, 2012)

*newcomer*

Hi - I'm coming late to the conversation but appreciate the forum. If I'm lucky I'll have a weekend to ride in Switzerland or Germany in late June. Can you recommend a tour company for a 1 night trip to a lodge (with sag wagon to carry gear!), or just a central location with lots of great trails nearby? I'm thinking about something like Bend, Oregon: incredible XC trails, 10+ brew pubs in the area, reasonable accommodations, etc. Any tips?


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## jk (May 29, 2004)

*Ah What?!?*

Hello there,
You will not find 10+ brewpubs anywhere here. In fact you'd be lucky to find 2 in any one region. Beer here is, well, beer. Nothing special, not much for choices like in the US. You'll find lots o lager though!

As for riding in late june you should be ok anywhere in the Alps by then. Contact these guys for more info: Swiss Alpine Adventure or just pick a ski area and check out their website. Many places here offer lift service for bikers and would happily recommend a guide.



pmo said:


> Hi - I'm coming late to the conversation but appreciate the forum. If I'm lucky I'll have a weekend to ride in Switzerland or Germany in late June. Can you recommend a tour company for a 1 night trip to a lodge (with sag wagon to carry gear!), or just a central location with lots of great trails nearby? I'm thinking about something like Bend, Oregon: incredible XC trails, 10+ brew pubs in the area, reasonable accommodations, etc. Any tips?


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