Mountain-Biking-Pyrenees-Route19

Mountain biking in the Pyrenees

The Pyrenees is a superb venue for mountain biking and there are excellent trails in many areas, all of which weave their way through some spectacular scenery. Due to the mountainous terrain some trails are steep and technical so it’s helpful to get some information on the area before you visit so that you know what you are letting yourself in for!

Areas known as “Espacio BTT” are some of the best organised.  “Espacio BTT” could be translated as MTB trail centre and are sets of signposted mountain biking routes. Access is free, there are usually maps available locally and the difficulty of the routes have different grades signposted with different colours. You will usually also find in the area additional services such as bike shops, information centre, maps and a website.

Espacio BTT Alto Gallego and Zona Zero  are  two of the best mountain biking centres and they are both located in the Aragonese Pyrenees. In both areas, the routes are signposted according to the International Mountain Bicycling Association standards, as follows :

Signpost model OK

Mountain Biking in Valle de Tena
Valle de Tena offers an incredible variety of biking routes and it is part of “Espacio BTT Alto Gallego”.  In the northern reaches of the valley the trails are steep and technical while in the flatter Serrablo valley to the south there are easier, flatter routes.

Routes are well indicated and maintained and there is an excellent mountain bike map and routes descriptions. Individual PDFs are also available for each of the routes which have a map, distances, height gain and profile of the trail. There are also downloadable tracks for each route which can be used in conjunction with a GPS.

To aid bikers looking at coming to the Pyrenees we’ve gathered here for you most of the information about these mountain biking routes, and organized it according to their difficulty grade:
2 easy routes of 7 and 14 km distance and less than 100m hieght gain.
5 medium difficulty routes, from 10 to 26 km distance and from 135 to 600m height gain.
9 difficult routes, from 13 to 29 km distance and from 415 to 1010m height gain.
7 extremely difficult routes, from 12 to 62 km distance and 635 to 1685m height gain.

You can get further information from Alto Gallego MTB trail Centre web page. Originally this page wasn’t in English, so we’ve recreated the routes in English on this blog for all you English speaking bikers out there.

Have a great time exploring the trails of the Pyrenees and let us know about your biking adventures!

2 thoughts on “Mountain biking in the Pyrenees”

  1. Valle de Tena is one of the greatest places to have a bike ride. I have once gone for a mountain biking ride in this area and it has given me a wonderful memory for lifetime. This place is perfect for those who prefer cycling holidays in Pyrenees.

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Hiking, cycling, nature and life in the Pyrenees