Germany’s most beautiful bike area? Almost! Mittenwald ends up in 2nd place nationwide in the Großer Bike24 ranking and in 7th place across Europe. But the Radl hype also brings its challenges with it.
Heinz Pfeffer is surprised – but only a little. Because it is actually not too surprising. “It is just exceptionally beautiful with us,” says the chairman of the Mittenwald bike club. You could be traveling by bike for two weeks without having to master a distance twice. “Just beautiful.”
This knowledge now has Mittenwald almost black on white. The region under the Karwendel was chosen in a ranking of the listed online retailer Bike24.de, which specializes in bicycles and accessories, in second place in Germany and even seventh place from the most popular and best bike areas across Europe.
Thousands of users rate routes around Mittenwald extremely positive
The basis of the assessment was the total number of 73 tours around Mittenwald, which 2219 users had rated an average of 4.7 out of 5 points. In total, the routes achieved 17 138 “likes”, so like that-this corresponds to an average of 234.8 likes per route. Factors such as vertical meters and other route features also flowed into the evaluation.
The undisputed leader is the Italian region Garda Trentino with 277 routes around the Monte Brione. “With 781.6 likes per tour, the MTB routes on Lake Garda delight mountain bike fans from all over the world,” says a press spokeswoman for Bike24.
We always wanted to prevent cyclists and hikers from getting in the way.
However, it is particularly emphasized among the top ten. “This is a top German destination and can be highly recommended.” The region is “characterized by its variety of routes-from cozy valley rounds to challenging alpine cross stages”. In addition, Mittenwald is said to be known for its family -friendly tours, “which lead along crystal clear mountain streams and through picturesque alpine meadows”.
It is precisely this variety that also appreciates Heinz Pfeffer. The forest paths to the alpine pastures, the lake landscape, the untouched nature – all of this not only inspires him, but also numerous day trippers. But with such awards the crowd of visitors also increases. “The e-bike in particular is becoming increasingly popular.” And this contains challenges: the increasing number of cyclists repeatedly leads to conflicts on popular hiking trails.
Flow trail plans on the Kranzberg not yet off the table
For a long time, the bike club has been committed to a flow trail on the Kranzberg together with the community and other partners. “Then we would have the mountain bikers away from the hiking trails,” explains Pfeffer. But the project was recently stopped by the district office (We reported). Because of nature conservation concerns, the authority gave the plans a clear cancellation.
Nevertheless, Pfeffer and his colleagues continue to work on a “natural solution” in the background. Also because the future of the ski area there hangs on the development of a summer offer on the Kranzberg. Better digital route could also help to lead cycling more specifically. And touristically, according to Pfeffer, there is still a lot of potential. The biking is trendy – and could bring new guests to the region.
So far, bikers have not been the target group, especially in the focus
So far, however, this target group has not been the focus, as Alpenwelt-Karwendel managing director Manuel Huber explains: “We always wanted to prevent cyclists and hikers from getting in the way.” A mass rush should be avoided. But bikers would be welcome guests, especially in the intermediate season. “The low season is getting longer and could compensate for the increasingly difficult winter season.”
How bikers can be brought to Mittenwald outside of the holiday periods – according to Huber, it has already been considered. Appropriate concepts are now to be specified. “We will also worry about that too.”
