Top 10 MTB Trails
in France

Les Gets Bike Park is the most perfectly rounded bike park in France — possibly in the world. The trail quality at every level is exceptional: beginners can build confidence on the excellent blue progression trails while experienced riders take on the demanding black DH lines. The lift network is efficient, the resort is compact and bike-friendly, and the Portes du Soleil access means you can extend your day across the border into Switzerland or across to Morzine without limit. Read davidmtb's full Les Gets guide →

Morzine is the heart of the Portes du Soleil and one of the most complete MTB destinations on earth. The town itself is built around bikes in summer — every other shop is a bike hire or repair, every bar has a bike rack, and the conversation in the queue for the Pleney lift is universally about trails. The riding from Morzine accesses Les Gets to the south and the Avoriaz plateau to the east, with Switzerland reachable via Champéry. The Morzine DH track is a proper classic. Full davidmtb Morzine guide →

Every cycling fan knows Alpe d'Huez — the 21 hairpins, the screaming crowds, the legend of Marco Pantani. In summer the same mountain becomes a mountain bike park with gravity descents that use the most famous climb in cycling as their runway. Riding down the 21 bends on a mountain bike is simultaneously hilarious and humbling. Beyond the tourist line, the bike park offers excellent DH and enduro trails with serious elevation and spectacular Belledonne mountain views.

Chamonix is Europe's adventure sports capital — a town built entirely around doing terrifying things in beautiful mountains. The MTB scene is naturally part of this DNA. The Aiguille du Midi cable car and the Brévent gondola provide access to extraordinary alpine terrain that descends into the Chamonix valley with Mont Blanc — the highest peak in the Alps — as your constant backdrop. The trails here demand real skill and commitment; this is not a beginner destination. But for experienced riders, it's life-altering.

Valloire hosts one of the most beloved stages of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup DH calendar. The track is notoriously demanding — high-speed, technical, with exposure that genuinely separates the world's best from everyone else. During the race, the atmosphere in the valley is electric; the rest of the summer the same track is available for public riding. The surrounding Galibier area adds excellent enduro terrain. This is a pilgrimage destination for any serious DH fan.

Châtel sits at the Swiss end of the Portes du Soleil and offers direct access to both the French and Swiss sides of the mega-resort. The Châtel Bike Park has grown significantly in recent years with proper purpose-built trails complementing the natural terrain. The village has a strong local riding culture and the trail quality — particularly the wooded descents toward Vonnes — is excellent. Great base for exploring the full extent of PdS over a multi-day trip.

La Clusaz is an Aravis valley classic — a proper French mountain village with a bike park that has steadily improved to become one of the best in the French Alps. The Beauregard massif above the village provides good vertical and the trail design mixes French flair (fast, flowy, occasionally terrifying) with practical progression. Less crowded than Les Gets or Morzine, with an authentic French mountain atmosphere that's increasingly hard to find in the most popular resorts.

2,000m of vertical descent. The Glacier du Mont-de-Lans gondola takes you to 3,200m and you can, if you know what you're doing, ride all the way down to 1,300m in the valley. This is not for beginners — the terrain is exposed, rocky, and demanding in the extreme. But for riders with the skills to handle it, Les Deux Alpes offers an MTB experience that is simply unmatched in terms of sheer scale of descent. One of the longest lift-accessed bike rides in the world.

Serre Chevalier is one of France's largest ski areas, and in summer it reveals a mountain bike terrain that is genuinely world-class. The sun-baked southern Alps environment here is completely different from the lush green forests of Haute-Savoie — the trails descend through dry, rocky, pine-scented terrain with a Mediterranean character that becomes more apparent as you drop toward Briançon, France's highest city. Excellent enduro terrain in a strikingly beautiful setting.

Métabief is France's best-kept MTB secret. The Jura mountains don't have the altitude of the Alps, but Métabief has built a bike park of genuine quality on Mont d'Or with DH and enduro trails that have attracted serious attention. The local trail building culture is excellent and the mountain bike scene here is passionate and unpretentious. Excellent value compared to the Alpine resorts and easily accessible from the Swiss border — Lausanne is just 60km away.