Front lines with a view - we show the Ten of the most beautiful military trails and roads that you can explore by mountain bike in the Alps. can explore.
1. BRENNER-GRENZKAMM: MUSSOLINI'S LEGACY
For MTB Alpine crossers, the Brenner border ridge is one of the easiest main ridge passes. But it's not just the panorama, but also Mussolini's bunkers and embrasures along the way that will make you shift down a gear in awe. Route and info: From Gries am Brenner via the Sattelbergalm and Sandjoch (2166 m) to Sterzing. Round tour in BIKE 7/06. Map: Kompass map no. 36 "Innsbruck, Brenner".
2. KAISERJÄGERWEG: STAIRS TO THE FORTS
If you stand in the vineyards of the South Tyrolean Val Sugana and look southwards, you wouldn't actually believe that a path even exists in the vertical rock face over 1000 metres high. But in fact, the Austrian military blasted the narrow road into the wall in 1875 - as a supply route for their fortresses on the Lavarone plateau. Route and info: From Caldonazzo (Val Sugana) to Monte Rovere (now tarmac). This is followed by the 100 Kilometri dei Forti on the Lavarone plateau, with well-preserved forts (gravel, trails). Info and a tour description can be found at https://trails.de, general info: www.trentino.comMap: Compass No. 75 "Trento, Levico, Lavarone" (1:50 000).
3. SENTIERO DE LA PACE: FOR PEACE
Today, the long-distance hiking trail that follows the front line of the First World War is called the "Peace Trail". It runs for hundreds of kilometres from the Carnic Alps via the Sesto Dolomites (Three Peaks) to the Stelvio Pass and onwards via the Tonale Pass, Monte Altissimo on Lake Garda and the Pasubio to the Adriatic Sea. The most interesting section: through the Dolomites, where you can still find rusting shrapnel. Route and info: No one has ever ridden the entire route, but there are organisers who offer it in sections. Carnic Ridge section: www.alpinschauer.de and Dolomites: www.ulptours.de
4. ASSIETTA RIDGE ROAD: HIGH UP
The Val di Susa again: the high valley in western Piedmont, close to the French border, is a dream spot for bikers. Between 2000 and 3000 metres, the old military roads wind their way over the bare mountains. The most famous military road is the Assietta ridge road. It branches off from the Colle delle Finestre and leads up to the 2566 metre high Testa dell'Assietta. The descent is along marvellous trails.
Route and info: The classic Assietta tour starts in Salbertrand (campsite). The actual ridge road branches off later from Colle de Finestre and climbs up to the eagle monument at the Assietta summit. Back on a super trail. Info: BIKE 10/04 Map: IGC map "Valli di Susa" (Chisone e Germanasca (1:50 000).
5. TREMALZO: LAKE GARDA CLASSIC
The Tremalzo is the dream road that once triggered the Lake Garda boom among mountain bikers. The luminous gravel road winds its way down in endless hairpin bends from the Tremalzo tunnel (1863 m) to Passo Nota. You finally return to Riva via marvellous trails and the old Ponale road. Sporty riders are not shuttled, but have climbed the 1800 metre ascent themselves beforehand. Route and info: Tour descriptions (four variants) in Moser Guide 12 "Lake Garda West", Delius Klasing Verlag, 39.90 euros.
6. FANES AREA: TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR WAR
The Fanes-Sennes-Prags National Park is enthroned directly behind the gates of St. Vigil. Once you have climbed the roughly gravelled zigzag ramp after the Pederü hut, you enter another world and can't believe that the thunder of cannons once resounded here. An absolute must for every Dolomite touring biker!
Route and info: Most people pass through the valley on an Alpine crossing, but there is also a great Fanes tour over the Valparola Pass: Dolomites Special in BIKE 9/02 and Spotguide Fanes in BIKE 5/05.
7. PASUBIO: THE CURVES ON THE BLOOD MOUNTAIN
No other mountain massif was so maltreated during the war as the Pasubio. Both opponents chopped routes for supplies, scarred the rock with grenades and pierced it with tunnels and galleries in which they filled and detonated tonnes of dynamite. Today: Endless curves with far-reaching views.
Route and info: Brenner motorway, exit "Rovereto Nord". Literature: Moser-Guide No. 11, Tour 21 "Pasubio", Delius Klasing Verlag 39,90 Euro.
8. LIGURIAN BORDER RIDGE: MARITIME ALPS
100 kilometres of consistently drivable military road, but the Ligurian border ridge has even more to offer: With panoramic views in all directions, it straddles the border between Italy and France and comes very close to the four-thousand-metre peaks of the Western Alps.
Route and info: From Tende in Italy to the Col de Tende (2000 m) on rough gravel. Tour description in BIKE 11/01.
9. TONALE-PASS: WAY THROUGH THE GAPS
This old military route is probably better known to Alpine crossers as the Montozzo Trail, one of the most beautiful downhill trails in the Alps. The route climbs along the gently ascending road from Ponte Legno up to the old trenches at the Forcella di Montozzo (2613 m).
Route and info: Stelvio National Park, Compass map no. 072 "Stelvio National Park". Tour description in BIKE 5/05.
10. SETTE COMUNI: ONE PATH
If you take the Trento Nord exit from the Brenner motorway and head for Asiago on the Altopiano, you will climb what is probably the loneliest area in the Eastern Alps. The high plateau is covered with ruined forts and rough military tracks that wind their way past the 2000 metre mark. Caution: many tunnels and exposed paths.
Route and info: Compass map no. 78 "Altopiano dei Sette Comuni". Tours in BIKE 10/94, 1/96 and 8/98.
Downloads:
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
