Cycling in Geilo

Geilo is a complete destination for those who wish to experience fresh air, enjoy an active life style, and at the same time enjoy a modern society with all its delights and privileges. Geilo, as an alpine village, is well-known for its alpine slopes and every conceivable element in the many terrain parks for both big and small. The attractions in the area also include world-class cross-country tracks and a wide range of winter activities like dogsledding, ice bathing, guided snowshoe tours, ice track driving and much more.

During summer time Geilo is probably best known for the hiking possibilities in the two National Parks Hardangervidda and Hallingskarvet. You can also make short trips close by the hotels and city centre all year round, day hikes in the mountain and long-distance hikes in the national parks. In this newsletter we want to inform about the biking offer Geilo and the region Hallingdal have to offer.

Sustainable biking

Geilo has been a sustainable destination since 2016. When more people, both the locals and our guests, wanted to ride their bike the natural trails got a lot of wear and tear. We started to make special bike trails which are sustainable and build by local companies. With this we save the erosion in the fantastic mountain nature, we separate the fast bikes from the slower moving hikers, we can make trails which withstand the difficult weather conditions, and add some extra technical features.

At Geilo the first type of this kind of sustainable biking trails was opened in 2017 with the name Skurfen, and with that a fairy tale of trail building started in the whole region of Hallingdal. Hallingdal has become a complete biking destination with six villages which has all their own bike trails. From easy new beginners’ trails in the city centre up to demanding high mountain trails. Hallingdal works together to be the leading mountain bike region in Scandinavia.

We are proud to inform that Geilo has five special biking trails:

Skurfen (blue-level, length 0,7km, 10m high difference)

Fossekallen (green-level, length 0,7km, 11m hight difference)

Røyskatten, (green-level, length 0,7, 10 m high difference)

Flow Motion (blue-level, length 4km, 260m high difference)

Bever’n (blue- level, length 0,5km, 28m high difference)

All close by the city centre and short distance from both the train station and most accommodations. The difficult level is from easy-green to average-blue and difficult-red

And there is more to come, at this very right moment we build two more difficult, red level trails in the same area as where it all began with Skurfen, and one more blue level trail. Next summer we are ready for you to bring your own bike or rent a bike and have lots of fun.

Flow Motion

We are very proud to finally inform you about the new flow trail named Flow Motion, opened summer 2021. This is a family-friendly cycling trail from top to bottom in one of the alpine slopes wich you want to do over and over again. Take the summer chair lift up in the Geilo Sommerpark and bike down. Do you not like lifts or visiting us outside high season you can also bike up and get a good warming up. Flow Motion is a blue-graded flow trail with undulating profile and dosages. A roller coaster ride suitable for the whole family. The surface is compact, without sudden obstacles. Here you just have to let the bike float down and turn on the smile! A wonderful trail with a good pulse and many elements that fit together. Here, there are balls, drops, jumps and side hits enough to challenge experienced off-road riders who - with speed, weight transfer and varied entry angles - make Flow Motion their own. At the same time, the blue-marked trail has enough flow, and minimal pedaling, so that beginners find it comfortable and just right challenging.

Flow Motion grows with your skills, and is simply a very cool way down the mountainside.

Something for every one

There is a lovely and easy tourist road around the lake Ustedalsfjorden of 10km, use this as a warming up for your tour further into the mountains or make it to your outdoor experience in Geilo. You can stop and rest on one of the banks, play some volleyball or take a swim in the lake. During summertime we advise you to stop in the open-air museum with old buildings from the Hol municipality and buy yourself some local traditional food.

Do you want to improve your skills as a experienced rider or do you have a toddler, the Vestlia Bike Area have a lot to offer. There is a pump track and several jump limes. The area has easy access to both the Ustedalsfjorden round tour and the flow trails. On the other side you will find the bike lift towards the trails in the alpine slopes Flow Motion, Anaconda and Gold digger.

During the summer time you can take your bike up with the summer chairlift in Geilo Sommerpark and bike down again. There are one-time tickets and day tickets available. In this way you are able to improve your skills on the Flow Motion or bike on the more technical trails. Two "old" trails, Anaconda and Gold Digger, had been upgraded to improve the lift-based bike offer. The result is that they reappear in a new suit, with more elements and better flow.

All this is available in a range of 5km from the train station and most accommodations in Geilo.

Winter biking

Who said that you only can ride your bike in the summer? Fat biking will give you an extraordinary activity during your winter holiday and suits everyone. You can bike on the winter roads, use the cross-country tracks or explore the specially made winter biking tracks nearby the Ustedalsfjorden. A fat bike has wide tires with which you float on the snow. It may look heavy but is surprisingly light and extreme fun to do. Book a local guide to make your activity even more special and something to remember for a long time. Are you already an experienced fat biker then you might be interested in the winter ultra-endurance bike event called Fat Viking. Arranged in January this really is a ride for the extreme winter athletes. See for more information www.fat-viking.com/en

Mountain roads are perfect biking roads

In Geilo as well as in the rest of Norway there are lots with mountain roads with only local traffic. Those roads suit perfect for families with tour bikes and people with E-bikes. The dirt roads have varied quality but suits most bikes with wider tyres, some gears and good brakes, there is no need for off road experience.

In the Geilo area there are dirt roads through the forests aside lakes and rivers in Hol, Geilo, Skurdalen and Dagali and mountain roads above the three lines leading to romantic summer farms, lovely mountain lakes and serving cabins. You can almost cycle all the way into the National Parks with Prestholt and Tuva.

Some of those dirt roads you can use while you are on your biking holiday rough Norway in stead of using the big car road. You will not gain the same number of kilometres on a day, but will see much more of the fantastic landscape, wildlife and culture from Norway. The two famous ones are Rallarvegen and the newer Mjølkevegen further down in Hallingdal.

Rallarvegen

Norway's most popular cycle path! Rallarvegen runs through a dramatic, lush and challenging landscape that offers culture, history and unique nature experiences. The road was built by hand around the turn of the last century to transport equipment and provisions during the construction of the Bergen line. Rallarvegen is today one of Norway's most popular cycle routes and is

80 km long from Haugastøl – Finse 1222m above sea - Hallingskeid around Vatnahalsen to Flåm at sealevel. The trip can be extended from Myrdal to Voss.

Short trail description Rallarvegen starts at Haugastøl. From here, the route continues with some ascent to Storurdi and Finse. On partly rough pavement (stone and crushed stone) the route goes west with a slight incline to Fagernut and down to Hallingskeid. It goes steeply down through Klevagjelet to Myrdal. This stretch is steep and partly unsecured, so here you have to be careful and preferably get off the bike. From Myrdal, via Vatnahalsen Hotel, it goes down steeply the 21 Myrdalssvingene. From Kårdalen (summer barn and goat cheese production) the last stretch goes through lush and dramatic Flåmsdalen down to Flåm. From here, the train ride with Flåmsbana must be considered a highlight.

Flåmsbana The 20km long train ride between Flåm at the bottom of the fjord to the high mountain station Myrdal takes approx. 55 minutes. Along the way you have a view of some of the most magnificent things to be found in Norwegian mountain nature, with an ever-changing panorama of high mountains and thundering waterfalls. The train runs slowly or stops at the finest viewpoints. From Myrdal corresponds Flåmsbanen with Bergensbanen and back to Geilo.

Your choice The distance from Geilo and down to Flåm is 103 km, from Haugastøl 80 km. If you want plenty of time and many stops to explore the nature and make small walks, you must calculate 3-4 days. You can stay in tourist cabins or hotels at Haugastøl, Finse and Hallingskeid. But you can also cycle the route in one day! Is your time limited then you can shorten the tour in by taking the train to Finse and bike back to Haugastøl, this is 28km and mostly downhill, and suits all persons who can ride a bike. You will get a total experience with Finse the highest train station in Norway, a view in the Hardangerjøkulen glacier and the wetlands and stunning nature.

Active holiday - guaranteed!

If you want a break from cycling, you can walk, fish or go horseback riding, meet wild animals in Langedrag nature park just 45 minutes by car from Geilo. But what about rafting in maybe Scandinavians best wild water river, go canyoning with nature as a playground, rappel down and along rock walls, jump into potholes and slide down the water slides that nature itself has created. Rent a canoe, a SUP or learn more on a guided tour on the glacier or into the National Park.

Bike guide In Geilo you will find bicycle guiding and instruction from beginners to advanced. If you want to hone your technique, develop your skills or take the best trails - we offer various cycling tours with a guide and cycling courses for both young and grown-ups.

Geilo Sommerpark In the Geilo Sommerpark we have a summer café, free play and activity area for the kids, a climbing park with 31 different elements, a zipline of 1100 meter long, frisbee golf, and not least fun bicycle products such as jump lines, skill trail, paved pump track and lift-based flow track. The summer chairlift gives you a opportunity to make an easy start for your walk in the Hardangervidda National Park.

Indoor fun If the weather is bad in the mountains, it is good that Geilo can offer lots of indoor activities. How about a relaxing spa and massage, movie at the cinema every Sunday, or yoga and mindfulness? Maybe a trip to the gym or the swimming pool? In Geilo we also have a playground for the kids, bowling and you can go shopping in 40 different shops. In addition, you will find a lot of culture in Hol municipality with a number of churches you can visit, art exhibitions and you can order a guided factory tour

AccomodationAnd even if you are not primarily here to sleep, it can be good to know that the Geilo and Hallingdal offers a large selection of accommodation - cosy mountain cabins, five-star campsites and traditional hotels. More information about all activities, events and accommodations you will find at www.geilo.no/en Feel free to contact or visit the tourist information for more local information.

All trails mentioned in this newsletter are or will be soon available in the Outdoor Active website and app. And we have discovered them all!

Welcome – all year around!