© Ellie Mahoney
© summitdown.com
© Ellie Mahoney
About Mountain Biking Trails in Alpe d'Huez
Guide to best biking trails in the area
The mountain biking trails of Alpe d'Huez are immense and weave their way across the spectacular terrain of the Oisans region. Here you will find over 200km of marked trails linking Alpe d'Huez and its surrounding villages of Auris, Oz, Vaujany, Villard-Reculas, Allemont, Freney d'Oisans and Bourg d'Oisans.
The area is certified by the French Cycling Federation (which means it must be good!) and includes 135km of cross-country and 130km of downhill routes. There is also a bike park in the centre of the resort if you fancy a bit of freestyle action with a dirt line and new modules for beginners.
Downhill: Alpe d'Huez and the Grande Domaine (which includes all the neighbouring villages to Alpe d'Huez) has lifts giving you access to 250km of trails. There are 35 tracks in total; a mix of greens, blues, reds and blacks, the highest of which sits at 3,300m and the lowest point 720m.
Enduro: This is where you'll find the Megavalanche track, at around 30km (although they do sometimes change the course from year to year) and 2,600m of descent it's classed as a black and is definitely the longest and hardest mixture of riding you'll find in resort. There are other enduro trails to try on top of this, which are considerably shorter.
Cross-Country: There are cross-country trails and some which cross over with enduro trail classification.
Raid Trails: These are routes that might involve a stop over in a mountain hut, and may take a couple of days to complete. Try the Meije valley or the Traverse of the Oisans.
Please note that the some of the XC, enduro and raid trails are not marked with signs, so you'll have to do a bit of pre-planning and good map reading to find your way around.
Check out some more trails here for Cross Country, Freeride, Downhill and Raid.
If you're looking to explore the region, here are some handy maps you can pick up locally or online:
- IGN 25 3335 Boug d'Oisans / Alpe d'Huez
- IGN 25 3336 2 Alpes
- IGN 25 3435 Valloire Aiguilles d'Arves
- IGN 25 Meije Pelvoux
- IGN 25 3335 Grenoble
Read more about what to bring and how to get your bike here in our MTB Guide.
Once in resort you can also pick up a handy route map book which details the trails. It's free and can be collected from any of the lift pass offices. Look for 'VTT en Oisans'.
