If you want to go abroad on a mountain bike as a Dutchman, the choice quickly falls on the Sauerland region. Many of our compatriots have already gone there before you. And not without reason: this region has a mega-good cycling infrastructure and not least: altitude difference! Actually, it doesn’t matter which bike you go with here; the Sauerland region won’t disappoint you.
Photos: Mark Prinsen
In early May, I am going to Winterberg with five friends. We will stay here at the Landal holiday park Winterberg All in luxury with a spacious cabin, sauna and hot tub. So the post-biker ride has been taken care of in terms of wellness. In the winter, you can get to the ski lift that is located right next to the park here, and from our balcony we can then look out over the slopes and ski jumping hill of Winterberg. There is even some snow here and there. We will be grateful to use these lifts this weekend!
But of course we’re here to cycle. Winterberg is a MTB paradise and popular with many people. On Friday evening we’re eager to get going and with the beautiful weather we choose to take a short reconnaissance ride. We don’t regret it; the beautiful gravel roads soon lead us through the seemingly endless forests. We see deer, birds of prey and enjoy the silence and tranquility around us. This has already been a successful weekend!
Service at the park
The next day we use the bread delivery service at the park for breakfast. It’s super easy to order and every morning you’ll have a fresh croissant and delicious sandwiches to prepare well for a long day in this biking paradise. On Saturday we choose a real MTB ride in the trail park. These trails are hidden right around the park, and at the end of the day you can finish off with the Landal trail, which ends at the park.
Trail park means climbing
Trail park does mean a lot of climbing, because there is no lift assistance like in the nearby bikepark. But the descents are more than worth it! We start with beautiful blue flowy lines, but we quickly fall in love with the red and black singletracks. These are a bit steeper, have more roots, and generally more challenging. What we really liked about these trails is that there are also two uphill singletracks! One flowy line with a lot of hairpin turns and one more technical, steep line where you can train on technical climbing. This leads to the aforementioned Landal Trail, and we ride this combination a few times during the weekend because of the high fun factor! Sometimes it takes a bit of searching, but overall the trails are well marked with signs. Back at the park, we rinse our bikes at the bikewash and turn on the sauna. We cook a pasta for dinner and are ready again for a new day on Sunday!
Investing in cycling
Sauerland not only invests in the ski infrastructure but also cleverly uses it in the summer by building the Bikepark Winterberg & Willingen. From the Landal park you can cycle in 10 minutes to the bikepark, so that’s really a good base for a visit here! After buying a lift pass, we go on the first trail. First, let’s warm up with some laps in the kids&skills park, and then on to the first blue flow line. Here you get off at one of the three lifts that serve most of the trails. The trails here are very cool and a good mix of flow, enduro trails with more roots, wooden features, and trails for our airtime enthusiasts. We had a great time here and sharpened our skills again.
Checkout on Monday
Unfortunately, it’s already time to check out of our beautiful little house on Monday and head back to the Netherlands. But of course we’re not going to do that without taking another ride around the corner. Besides the trail and bikepark, several XC/gravel routes have also been set up. We rode route 24, one of the longer routes. It was beautifully varied with mainly wide gravel paths and here and there some stretches of bike path. There were a few steep climbs though, where you had to put your best effort into pedaling. We were happy with the GPX we had downloaded because the signs were missing in some places. All the information about the routes for MTB, race and gravel bikes can be found on the website of BIke Arena. Read our article about this here: Cycling in the Sauerland: Bike arena at your doorstep
Conclusion: Winterberg is a MTB paradise
After this weekend we can only draw one conclusion: What a spectacular cycling region this is! And Landal Winterberg is the perfect base to discover this region with its beautiful spacious cottages and the location right next to the most important MTB trails and beautiful gravel roads. On a bike you can also easily explore the beautiful roads through the Sauerland mountains. And just an hour or three-four from Utrecht it is a top destination for a weekend getaway! Will we see you soon in the Sauerland?
Questions & tips
Do you have any questions about this route, or have you been there yourself? Share them here. We read everything and usually respond within a few days.