Czech bike parks have been very popular with Polish bikers for years. I am also very happy to choose Kouty, Koprivna or Dolni Morava as one of the main destinations to visit at least once in a bike season. This was supposed to be the case in 2023, but due to poor weather forecasts, few days before trip we changed the our destination to Trail Park Klinovec. The place impressed me so much that it became my number 1 when it comes to bike park riding in the Czech Republic. What is so great about it? I invite you to a short report from the Czech enduro paradise.
Trail Park Klinovec – Where is it, and how do we got here?
Trail Park Klinovec is located in the north-western part of the Czech Republic, very close to the border with Germany. Looking at the map, it’s pretty far away from Poland. From Warsaw it takes about 2 hours more than to bike park Kouty. Some consolation is the fact that you can reach the Klinovec area via the German highway that passes through Dresden. Then You only have to travel a short distance along side roads. It was because of this additional distance that I did not decide to travel to Klinovec earlier, even though I had heard a lot of good things about it before. As I wrote in the introduction, our motivation to get here was the weather forecast, which showed downpours and storms for the Kouty-Dolni Morava region, and only light rainfall for Klinovec. The forecasts came true that weekend and we wouldn’t have ride so much, in the area closer to the Polish border. It wasn’t perfectly dry here, but we did have really good riding here. We found a reasonable accommodation through Trail Park Klinovec leży w zachodnio-północnej części Czech, bardzo blisko granicy z Niemcami. Patrząc na mapę, jest daleko. Z Warszawy wychodzi ok 2 godziny drogi więcej niż np. do Koutów. Pewnym pocieszeniem jest fakt że można dojechać w okolicę Klinovca Niemiecką autostradą, która przechodzi przez Drezno. Wtedy zostaje nam już do pokonania tylko krótki kawałek bocznymi drogami. To właśnie przez tą dodatkową odległość, nie zdecydowałem się wcześniej na podróż do Klinovca, chociaż już wcześniej słyszałem o nim sporo dobrego. Tak jak pisałem we wstępie, naszą motywacją do dotarcia tutaj były prognozy pogody, które dla regionu Kouty-Dolni Morava pokazywały ulewy i wichury, a dla Klinovca tylko drobne opady. Prognozy w tamten weekend się sprawdziły i rzeczywiście bliżej granicy z Polską byśmy wiele nie pojeździli. Tutaj nie było może idealnie sucho, ale można było bardzo fajnie pośmigać. Sensowny nocleg znaleźliśmy przez Booking.com in the town of Jachymow, near the road leading to the ski lift, and Trail Park area. There was a shop next door, and a typical Czech pub below our apartment. Using a combination of bike trails and a hiking trail, you can easily come back by bike straight to the accommodation. It wasn’t a trip in cooperation with the place and I don’t have many photos from the trails, but I collected a lot of GoPro materials, so I thought it is worth sharing them.
Trail Park Klinovec – What bike park has to offer?
Trail Park Klinovec is one of the longest-operating bike parks in the Czech Republic. There is everything you can expect from a good European bike park. After arriving at the place, there is a large parking lot, rental and service facilities, well-kept toilets and some free service tools. It seems to me that accommodation for campers or tents in lower parking lot is possible for a small fee. A little above the lower station and at the upper station there are places where you can eat something and drink Czech beer or Kofola. The heart of the bike park is a fast chairlift with a length of over 2 km, which quickly and efficiently takes us almost 500 meters vertically. A one-day pass in 2023 cost CZK 750 which is very reasonably price compared to some Austrian bike parks. More current information can be found on the official website trailpark.cz.
Trail Park Klinovec – Trails
The most important part of Trail Park Klinovec, of course, are the trails. The place boasts 30 km of routes in the bike park itself. The longest of them are 3 quite gentle flow lines. Additionally, there are 2 very difficult variants, typically for DH or Enduro bikes. The official routes are complemented by an pump track located at the upper station. But it is not everything. Straight from the lift, without any big climbs, there are 3 additional OESs from the Czech Enduro series available, and in close proximity to the lift we found 2 more wild enduro routes. The number and length of all these variants require at least 2 days of riding, and even for 3 days there would be no boredom there.
Trail Park Klinovec – Azur, Rubin and Baron
Three main flow trails in the Klinovec Trail Park. We didn’t even try the simplest and longest (over 10 km of descent!) Azur variant. We started with the red one, Rubin. In fact, it is a blue flow line, without any major obstacles. Lots of well-shaped berms and rollers, which can sometimes be combined into small jumps. Next in line was the flow trail marked as black, the Baron trail. In fact, it’s more of a red route where you can jump a bit, but there’s nothing scary here. Sometimes there are only carpets of arranged stones. In general, flow trails keep the flow and speed nicely. Some sections you can fly at very high speeds and have a lot of fun. It isn’t the level of Dolni Morava trails, and the trails are definitely with less jumps, but overall it’s quite pleasant. On Baron, only sometimes the profiled berms were too low for the speeds that can be achieved there. The beginners and people who want to get used to higher speeds will have good fun on those trails.
Trail Park Klinovec – Nemecka / Illegal / Downhill
This trail is called differently on each map. According to the official map, it is one of the downhill routes, but I would rather describe it as a tough bike park enduro. This is the variant that turns more to the left after the starting gate. On this route, advanced people will be able to have fun on countless rocks and roots. The line seems chaotic at the beginning, but once you find a rhythm, the ride, although pretty demanding, it provides great satisfaction. There are both fast straights and technical rock gardens. There are also short alternative lines in two places, which I definitely wouldn’t call chicken lines. The route is marked orange, meaning very difficult. You have to really try to ride it smoothly. At speed, this is one of the most interesting and difficult bike park enduro trails I have ever ridden. My favorite trail in Klinovec.
Trail Park Klinovec – Downhill
The trail that turns more to the right after the starting gate is a classic Downhill trail. A very fast line with lots of huge stones and gaps. The whole thing is designed to ride it at huge speeds, which we couldn’t reach. There are no natural fragments, only built up sections of berms, jumps, drops or rock gardens. It is often appreciated even by World Cup competitors who train here (clip of Danny Hart training below). There are a few steeper and technical parts, but what counts most is precision in line choice and speed. The last part of the route is a line of very pleasant high-speed jumps and gaps.
Klinovec – Ceska Enduro Serie
As I mentioned earlier, in the immediate vicinity of the bike park there are several routes that are used for the Czech Enduro Series competitions held here every year. To find these trails, we used the map below from 2022, and in the forest we also used a “heat map” from Strava. We didn’t have any difficulties finding these trails in the terrain and although they are not officially maintained, they are ridden quite often. Their main advantage is a much more natural feel than typical bike park variants. There are almost no built up obstacles, but the lines make great use of the natural terrain and are very interesting.
Klinovec – Enduro RZ 2
To get here, You need to ride a bit from the upper station along the asphalt road. It require only a few minutes of gentle descent. Apparently there is also an option to take the red hiking trail from the top of Klinovec. We found some alternative fresh start straight from the asphalt road. Next we came across a typical enduro line. There is some root traversing, plus a few steeper sections that wind down nicely. Of the RZ routes we checked, this one was the most washed out and most ridden. It was quite a challenge with wet roots. The interesting descent ends with a exit onto a gravel road, which is descending straight back to the ski lift.
Klinovec – Enduro RZ 3
Enduro RZ 3 starts in exactly the same place as RZ 2. At first, there is a scenic singletrail through a field and later we enter the forest with some roots and stones. Lots of nice technical elements. The last segment of the trail is an interesting steep slope with a lot going on. This trail was in very nice condition. It wasn’t run down or washed out, but it was immediately obvious where to go. This variant ends in exactly the same place as RZ 2, so we return to the ski lift in a moment and without any effort.
Klinovec – Enduro RZ 5
The last RZ variant that we checked was the one marked as RZ 5. You can reach the beginning of this trail via the red bike park route Rubin. You just need to turn off at one intersection and follow the tire marks. This trail makes good use of the interesting shape of the terrain and its various depressions. Despite the relatively gentle slope of the terrain, you have to work hard to maintain a good speed on it. The RZ 5 trail crosses the Azur route halfway. At this point you can return to the ski lift without any uphill climbs. If You want to go down the whole trail then, You get to the area of Sucha village. From there it will take You about 10 minutes of pedaling up to reach the Azur route, on which You can then go straight to the ski lift.
Klinovec – Wild Enduro
The trails from Czech Enduro Series showed us the huge potential of the local terrain, so we decided to explore it a little more. On Strava’s “Heat map” we found two barely visible traces that lead relatively along the Klinovecky stream, so we went there to check it out. The first trail started a little closer to the ski lift and was a narrow turnoff into the forest from the ski slope. Here we found an amazing loam on a steep slope. The narrow path is in true natural style and it winds along the stream. Unfortunately, it was very wet in this part of the forest, but it didn’t stop us from descending. This first variant was one of the most interesting, steep and technical enduro lines I have ever ridden. The second path, which went down to the stream more from the side, was also interesting, but not as spectacular as the previous one. Both wild variants reach a forest road, which leads straight to the lower part of the DH route, so there is still couple of good jumps on the way back to the ski lift.
Trail Park Klinovec – Summary
To sum up, the ride on the slopes of Klinovec mountain was so good that this place has now become my number 1 bike park in the Czech Republic. The length of the ski lift and slopes is practically the same as in Kouty bike park, but Klinovec offers many more possibilities, especially when it comes to more natural variants. The local team takes care of the trails in Klinovec throughout the season and in August they were in very good condition. We could also see some freshly improved elements, so that’s a big plus. In my opinion, the Klinovec Dowhnhill trail is also better than the one in Kouty. The bike park flow trails were ok, although they could be more “jumpy”. However, the Illegal / Nemecka trail and all the wild enduro variants and the fact that they could easily be done straight from the ski lift were absolute genius. If someone likes slightly more ambitious, natural style enduro trails, they will be able to have a lot of fun there. It is worth adding a few kilometers and visiting Klinovec. In the case of a longer trip, you can also visit the slightly strange bike park Plesivec or the more flow and jump style Schoneck in the close area. I will certainly want to visit Klinovec again in the coming season.
