Toptrail Tannzapfenland is the name of a trail center in Fischingen, Thurgau. It is the first mountain bike facility built in a forest in the canton of Thurgau. It will officially open on Saturday, April 25. The locals are already flying over the kickers, and Ride went to check it out.

The Thurgau government has approved its mountain biking plan. As part of this, it is submitting a proposal to the parliament to amend the Forest Act, which would allow for fines to be imposed on cyclists who ride off official paths and trails. Interestingly, fines will only be imposed in areas where mountain biking infrastructure exists. The devil is in the details.

After five years of project planning and approval procedures, the TopTrail Tannzapfenland association has been granted planning permission to build a series of trails in Fischingen (canton of Thurgau) that can be combined to create different loops. The final hurdle is financing.

In the canton of Thurgau, the focus is shifting to mountain bikers and the cantonal government has commissioned a corresponding concept. However, the situation is now mercilessly revealing just how backward the canton of Eastern Switzerland is in this regard.

Not only is the sport of mountain biking booming, but also organizations that lobby for trails. In Eastern Switzerland, various local groups and associations have joined forces to form Biketrails Ostschweiz to campaign for "target group-oriented mountain bike trails".

The canton of Thurgau intends to develop a cantonal mountain bike concept and now wants to gather the opinions of mountain bikers in advance. A needs analysis workshop will therefore be held in the Weinfelden town hall on November 30, 2022, which is open to all interested parties.

The canton of Thurgau wants to entrust forestry officers with police duties, such as issuing fines to bikers off forest roads. Trail bikers, who have formed the IG Mountainbike Thurgau, are fighting this. A few weeks later, it already has 350 members. But there is not much time left to avert the unfavorable revision of the Forest Act.

The canton of Thurgau wants to adapt its forest law to the current challenges. One key change is that forestry workers will be able to issue fines - for example to bikers off the official trails.