"Sonnenberg" is what the locals call the south-facing side of the valley where Leukerbad and part of the Pfyn Nature Park are located. The region has been a single trail paradise for mountain bikers for many years. Eight municipalities on the Sonnenberg have now created a joint trail network by officializing the most popular trails as bike routes. This process is called "homologation" in the canton of Valais. It means that biking is expressly permitted on the 225 kilometers of homologated trails. The trails are signposted, there are trail tolerance signs in some places and a few danger spots have been structurally mitigated.

Leukerbad has been focusing on mountain biking for some time in order to strengthen the offer in the snow-free period. The other municipalities (Albinen, Gampel-Bratsch, Guttet-Feschel, Inden, Leuk, Salgesch, Varen) are also interested in attracting mountain bikers as well as hikers. "We know that the cable car in Jeizinen already generates more than a third of its revenue from mountain bikers," says David Caliesch, giving an example. He is Head of Marketing at My Leukerbad AG and was instrumental in the implementation of the trail network. Of course, not all pedestrians are enthusiastic about it, but on the whole there are few problems and coexistence works. "With the homologation, it is now official and clear that mountain biking is allowed on these trails. That's why there are fewer discussions," he explains the situation.The nature park as a driver

All trails ride through the Pfyn - Finges Nature Park. Contrary to what you might expect, the park did not have any reservations, but was a driving force behind the project. "Mountain biking has to do with nature, which is why the nature park supported the project," explains Caliesch. The earth-colored carpet is rolled out for mountain bikers between Gampel and Salgesch and up to the Gemmi. It should be noted that not all trails are now official bike routes. "We have included the most popular routes and made sure that the bikers are spread across the entire region," explains Caliesch, "but there are enough routes to keep you going for days," he promises.

The Pfyn - Finges bike region is part of the Bike Valais/Wallis master plan, which aims to create an interconnected network of bike routes. The concept was developed by the agency BikePlan, which is also involved in the implementation, with the municipalities taking the lead. The 225 kilometers of trails in and around the Pfyn Nature Park create a link from the trails in Crans Montana to the other side of the Tail and up the Rhone to Eischoll and Unterbäch. In a few years, it should be possible to ride an official trail tour from Crans Montana to Brig. "Unhomologated", of course, this is already possible today.

Tour description Torrent Trail

Tours in the Leukerbad region