Bikepark Thunersee: Vision in the Bernese Oberland

For over five years, the Bikepark Thunersee association has been committed to promoting biking and coordinating the needs of bikers and hikers. It works with forest owners and municipalities, plans and builds trails, routes and facilities. Ultimately, the vision of a bike park around Lake Thun should one day become a reality. This is what it could look like:

The vision

The association wants to promote the topic of biking holistically around Lake Thun and primarily help to create a specific infrastructure. The aim is to build and maintain pump tracks, flow trails and skills centres for all levels and ages. In addition to promoting and maintaining the infrastructure, the bike park serves as a platform for the topic. According to Jérôme Hunziker from the Bikepark Thunersee association, both local riders and bike guests from outside the region should be able to find all the information they need on the topic here. And get on the saddle in one of the most beautiful regions in the world.

How do you want to position your region in relation to other hotspots such as the Engadin
? Jérôme Hunziker: We want to be recognised as a large bike park around Lake Thun in the future. With bike shuttles that take guests from A to B. With bike restaurants and bars serving our specially brewed trail ale. A major advantage is the combination of town, lake and mountains; all in close proximity to each other and in a unique beauty. Added to this is the optimal infrastructure: good public transport connections, good mountain railways, competent bike shops, intact nightlife, a wide range of hotels and restaurants. And of course the magnificent views!

From vision to reality: what are the next steps?
We are currently planning to revamp our services. This means: transport services such as the shuttle services mentioned above will be created. Restaurants and hotels will become bike-friendly, bike shops will expand their services for out-of-town guests, etc.

What does this mean in concrete terms?
The range of rental bikes, especially e-bikes, is being expanded. Hotels are investing in infrastructure and offering their guests the opportunity to clean and maintain their bikes in the hotel's own workshop before and after a ride. Riders should feel completely at ease in the Bikepark Thunersee.

Why is it so important to build legal trails and keep bikers away from hiking trails and cycle routes?It is particularly important to separate bikers and hikers where high frequencies can be measured. The same applies to unclear areas. In future, trails will continue to be used jointly, but will be slowed down and made clearer with structural measures. In addition, unauthorised and unsecured mountain bike trails are harmful to nature. The construction of new legal trails should limit the impact on nature.

Which partners are you working with to develop and build the trails?In terms of spatial planning, we work with the company Bikeplan. The technical planning and construction is carried out by the company Flying Metal in Thun.

How does your club view the importance of biking in relation to winter sports? Keyword: climate change. Many lower-lying ski resorts will (have to) rely on bikers sooner or later, won't they?
Fortunately, we in the region have long since realised that summer tourism needs to be expanded. For example, we have mountain railways that face south and are located at 600 to 1000 metres above sea level. In winter, it is already dry as dust in some places, meaning that bikers can ride there all year round.

The largest bike park in Switzerland

In autumn 2019, Vision Bikepark Thunersee, currently Switzerland's largest bike park project, was presented to the media. The ground-breaking ceremony for the first trail took place in February of this year. The trail leading from Rabenfluh to Steffisburg was recently opened. And a second trail from Goldiwil to Thun has already received planning permission from the cantonal governor's office. So the excavators will soon be driving up here and the vision will become reality one ground-breaking ceremony at a time.