Terres Noires Superkombi
Description
From Digne-les-Bains, you first climb up to the hamlet of Le Villard on a quiet asphalt road - this section can also be easily covered by shuttle. After the village, the route continues on asphalt for a while before a gravel road, interrupted by a short section of trail, leads to the start of the Crêtes XXL.
From there, the spectacular descent begins via the Chasseur Trail, one of the most famous photo spots in the region. Technically, it is not too difficult, but the scenery is breathtaking - the narrow ridge paths run over steeply sloping terrain to the left and right of the trail. A little courage is required, but the scenery is simply breathtaking. No one will be left out in the cold if you push here.
Back on the gravel road (familiar from the first ascent), follow it uphill again for a while until the next trail section awaits on the left: a flowing and playful descent over large slabs of rock, peppered with rollable sections - technically appealing, but not exposed. After a short right fork, you reach the hamlet of Archail on the trail.
Another short section of trail serves as a connection to Draix - the start of the next loop: the Crêtes de Draix. These are slightly shorter than the Crêtes XXL, but even more exposed. The same applies here: not technically difficult, but the airiness of the passage demands concentration and determination. And again: if you push, you'll still be in full style.
After the ridge passage, you can either roll back comfortably on the road to Draix or - more sportily - climb briefly uphill on gravel to surf down to Draix on a varied, flowing singletrail.
Now comes the return trip to Digne-les-Bains. The route first climbs uphill on a small gravel road to the Bergerie de Maurel, where you turn right onto a good trail with lots of hairpin bends. This leads to an inconspicuous summit, the starting point of the final descent.
This begins with S3-S4 passages, partly over loose Terres-Noires ground. Further down, the trail becomes increasingly flowy and you glide towards the valley floor at speed. The final part of the descent is not far from the EVO bike park, from where you can comfortably roll back to the center of Digne on a road with little traffic.
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
53 km
1565 m
1565 m
593 above sea level
1200 above sea level
1 day
Digne-les-Bains
Digne-les-Bains
3495
well suited
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User comments (2)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
First off: If you’re looking to explore a new landscape and some new trails, we highly recommend the Terres Noires! We didn’t ride the tour exactly as described, since we’d already been out and about in the Draix area beforehand, so we were also in the “core zone” mentioned. (We had fun around Draix, too.) We combined the route with the signposted Route 21 (download the GPX file—it’s easy to find online at https://sitesvtt.ffc.fr/sites/provence-alpes-6/): If you add the detour to VTT 21 (that’s the first little loop of this tour here), you’ll have a truly great day in the Terres Noires—or rather, a fantastic combination of the core zone. The final descent on Route 21 is quite challenging (this is where the two routes diverge again); I’d rate the ride difficulty at a 4 here. Otherwise, a maximum of 3. The advantage of the signposted routes is that they’re easy to follow. Just following the GPX file can be a challenge in some spots.
Even though the numbers don’t sound too tough (40 kilometers, 1,350 meters of elevation gain), it was a strenuous tour, since almost every meter off the road is on a trail. Most of the climbs are rideable, but they take a lot of energy. I recommend enjoying XC or having a motor; otherwise, it’ll be tough going! If you don’t pass through one of the two towns (Draix or Archail), there’s no water along the way. There’s also very little shade.
According to the signage, the Chasseur Trail is not the Expo section but rather the first descent of the VTT 21, which isn’t part of this Super Combo. However, it could be interpreted as an extension of that section (see the “Chasseur Trail” tour).
I didn't particularly like the trails in the east (Archail & Draix region). I'd rather stick to the core zone.
- Chasseurs (very easy)
- Cretes XXL (expo)
- Tobbogans
- l'Escure (long, fast, steep sections)