Courchevel Bike Park operates with less fanfare than its peers but offers more than its reputation suggests. Based primarily in the terrain above Courchevel 1850 and 1650, the park uses summer gondola access to give riders entry to a network of marked descents that spans the full difficulty range — and connects, via the Col de la Loze, to some of the most significant high-altitude riding in the French Alps.
This is a complete trail breakdown: what exists at each difficulty level, who it’s suited for, and how to approach the park to get the most from what’s on offer. Whether you’re visiting with your first-ever bike park experience ahead of you or you’re an experienced enduro rider looking to understand the technical ceiling before you arrive, this guide covers the full picture.
Park Setup and Gondola Access
The primary gondola access to the Courchevel Bike Park is from the Courchevel 1850 and 1650 villages, with the Verdons gondola system giving efficient access to the upper mountain terrain. The bike park operates from approximately late June through mid-September, dependent on conditions and snowmelt timing on north-facing trail sections.
The terrain spans from the upper mountain — accessible from the Col de la Loze area — down through mid-mountain forest sections to the valley approaches above Le Praz. This vertical spread means the park has genuinely distinct trail characters across its elevation range, and a single visit can include alpine, sub-alpine, and forested trail environments.
Trail signage uses the standard French resort difficulty system: green (easy), blue (intermediate), red (difficult), black (very difficult). The ratings at Courchevel are honest — perhaps slightly conservative on the blues and reds relative to some other parks.
Green Trails: Learning the Mountain
Courchevel’s green-rated trails are accessible to genuinely new mountain bikers without being insultingly easy for riders with any prior off-road experience. The gradient is gentle, the trail width is generous, and the routing gives a proper introduction to the character of the mountain rather than a token loop designed only to claim a green rating exists.
For newer riders, the green trails here are worth multiple laps — the mountain character changes at different speeds and the trail features become more readable with repetition. For experienced riders, these runs provide a useful reference for understanding the local soil and how it behaves before progressing to more technical terrain.
One note: Courchevel’s greens sit at modest elevation and the lower trail sections in particular give excellent views toward the Vanoise that are worth experiencing at a pace that allows you to look up occasionally.
Blue Trails: The Park’s Mainstream Offer
The blue-rated descents at Courchevel Bike Park represent the bulk of the trail network’s most visited runs. These are trails with genuine gradient and variety, accessible to riders with intermediate skills and engaging enough to not feel like a warmup exercise for more experienced visitors.
The blue trails at Courchevel have a slightly more constructed feel than comparable runs at Méribel — the terrain has been shaped with more deliberate trail building in sections, producing features that are predictable and repeatable rather than entirely natural. For riders developing their skills on built features, this is actually a significant advantage: you can practice specific techniques on features that behave consistently.
The lower mountain blue sections through the forest above Le Praz are particularly good — sustained gradient, consistent trail width, and the kind of progression through corners and compressions that rewards active riding technique.
Red Trails: Where the Commitment Begins
Courchevel’s red-rated runs step up meaningfully from the blues. The gradient increases, the built features demand more commitment, and the natural terrain sections that aren’t shaped require genuine line-reading ability. These are trails where your technical floor will be tested.
The red descents in Courchevel are particularly good for riders who have strong skills on built features but are developing their natural terrain reading. The combination of shaped and natural sections means you’re never fully in one environment — you’ll be practicing feature riding and then immediately applying the speed and body position it generated to a natural rock garden or rooted forest section.
Full-face helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads are appropriate for the reds. A bike with at least 140mm of rear travel will make the experience significantly more enjoyable than something shorter.
Black Trails: Courchevel’s Technical Peak
The black-rated runs at Courchevel Bike Park are the park’s most demanding terrain. These are trails with steep sustained gradient, significant drops, technical rock gardens, and the kind of feature density that requires experience and commitment.
The DH character of Courchevel’s blacks is more pronounced than at some neighbouring resorts — the trail design reflects downhill racing influence rather than pure enduro naturalism. This means more air time opportunities, more constructed features, and trail lines that reward a more aggressive, forward-riding-position style. Riders coming from a DH background will feel at home here; enduro-oriented riders will find the style requires some adjustment.
Two key rules for the black runs: don’t attempt them with tired arms (common mistake on day one afternoons), and don’t skip the reds first if you haven’t ridden Courchevel’s specific trail character before. Local conditions and soil behaviour here have specifics that don’t translate perfectly from other parks.
The Col de la Loze Extension: Beyond the Bike Park
The trail access from the Col de la Loze represents Courchevel’s most significant MTB asset beyond the formal bike park. The col sits at 2,304 metres and the terrain from it descends in two directions: toward Courchevel and toward Méribel. Both directions offer exceptional riding, and the summit itself has views that justify the trip independent of any trail considerations.
From the Courchevel side, the descent from the col is a sustained, natural-terrain run that passes through genuinely remote-feeling landscape before entering the more managed bike park territory lower down. This run is not a park trail — it requires navigation, terrain awareness, and appropriate kit for a remote mountain environment. The reward is the best single descent in the Courchevel riding area.
Access is via gondola and a short traverse from the upper station. Plan for a full morning if you’re making the col the centrepiece of the day.
Where to Stay Near Courchevel Bike Park: Book with IMPT
For bike park access, the Courchevel 1850 and 1650 villages are the optimal base positions — direct gondola access and minimal morning logistics. For a more economical option with good access, the 1550 village is within the gondola network and typically less expensive.
Book through impt.io and earn approximately 5% of your accommodation spend back as on-chain carbon credits. For riders visiting the Parc National de la Vanoise territory that borders Courchevel, contributing to verified carbon retirement through a booking platform is a way to close the loop between the environmental impact of visiting these places and actively supporting the ecosystems that make the riding worth having.
Search available hotels at IMPT
Conclusion
Courchevel Bike Park has a wider range than its reputation suggests and a technical ceiling — via the Col de la Loze — that competes with the best high-altitude riding in the Alps. The difficulty spread is honest, the trail character rewards the DH and enduro style in different proportions, and the park infrastructure is maintained to a standard that reflects a resort that takes its summer season seriously.
Lock in accommodation early at IMPT and build your ride day planning around the trail priorities this guide has laid out.
