Mountainbike holiday in the Auvergne region
The Sancy massif in the Auvergne has a volcanic origin and is surprisingly challenging and varied. Straight out of our accommodation in Le Mont-Dore you can make fantastic mountain bike tours. Open tops with panoramic views alternate with steep escarpments, usually in a forest, where also most of the single track descents can be found. There are broad paths but also technical single tracks on rocky underground where walking sometimes might be necessary.
The highest mountains in this part of the Auvergne are almost 1900 meters high. The average meters of climbing is between 300 and 400 meters and can go up to 700 meters. There is an extensive network of trails which are fantastic for mountain biking. Below a preview (the area definitely also has more challenging trails!):
Petit ou grand plateau ? from Auvergne Tourisme on Vimeo.
Being avid mountain bikers ourselves, we naturally have created some great mountain bike routes. The different routes are each divided into 4 different levels. These routes are available as GPS track for our mountain biking guests. A GPS can be rented at Les Camélias.
Downhill
Since the summer of 2009 the Super-Besse resort offers a bike park and 5 downhill tracks; 2 blue, 2 red and 1 black track. A ski lift takes mountain bikers and mountain bikes to the top of the tracks. A real must do for those who want to improve their downhill technique. A visit to these downhill tracks can be combined with a day trip from Les Camélias. For the blue and red runs a dual-suspension XC ATB will do.
Signposted mountainbike routes
There are furthermore also 145 miles of signposted mountain bike routes in the Sancy-massif. Spread out over 26 routes and close to seven municipalities, including Le Mont-Dore.
Out of Le Mont-Dore the following signposted routes can be cycled:
- Le Capucin (green): 2 miles / 92 meters of climbing
- Les Artistes (blue): 4 miles / 276 meters of climbing
- Descente du Rigolet (blue): 5,5 miles / 401 meters of climbing
- Chamablanc (red): 10 miles / 685 meters of climbing
Obviously, the different routes can be combined. There is also a connection with the routes from La Stèle and La Bourboule.
The GPS track of the routes can be found at www.tracegps.com.
More (French) information can be found at the website of the Sancy-massif.