"Lake Garda is completely overrated!", claim the lagocritics rather spitefully. In fact, it's more the overall package that makes the lake so damn attractive. There's the Italian sun, the beautiful blue lake, the mountains that rise vertically into the sky like rocky bastions, the Italian flair with its much-vaunted dolce vita, ice cream at Flora, promenading in the harbour of Riva.
The trails, on the other hand, have to be fought for: On the Lago, there are steep climbs without cable cars and mostly steep and bumpy descents. This no longer fits in with the current "easy going, flow is everything" hype in freeriding. The locals know this too and have given their supertrails a proper facelift and created additional trails. First and foremost: the Naranch Trail.
Our trail tips for freeriders on the lake
1. Every freerider should have ridden the Sechshunderteinser (601er) once in their life. This angry trail over rock slabs, stone scales and rubble curves steeply down from the slopes of the Altissimo. Anyone who makes it down here without putting their foot down can count themselves among the professional class of alpine freeriders. The 601 used to be a rite of passage. Anyone who mastered this descent without fluttering nerves, screaming in fear and pushing units could call themselves a freerider with a clear conscience. The new chassis and geometries of modern bikes have taken some of the fear out of the 601 - but this descent is still challenging and difficult.
2. The trail: La Val di Diaol has been retreaded. It branches off from the Altissimo access road. You can either climb the 800 metres uphill yourself or book one of the shuttle buses. With small jumps and wooden kickers, the trail has been trimmed more towards freeriding.
3. The Naranch Trail leads from Santa Barbara down to Nago. Fast changes of bends, forest floor, hairpin bends, small rocky outcrops, off-road jumps - we've never experienced so much flow on the Lago before. The Naranch Trail is our must-do tip!
4. The Coast trail also zips through the slopes of the Altissimo. The character of the Coast is somewhat tamer and more flowy than the Sechshunderteinser, for example. It meanders along the slope through sparse forest with some very challenging key sections and steep passages over stone fields. However, they can easily be bypassed. As the Coast Trail starts quite high up at Altissimo, we recommend booking a shuttle for tired freeriders. At the moment, work is still being carried out on the Coast Trail, but the opening is imminent. The AGBA association is responsible for the regular maintenance of the trails.
Shuttle service:
