So Easter was spent touring around Funen, which is a (in Danish standards) very big island in the middle of Denmark. It is located between the mainland, Jutland, and the largest island, Zealand, where our capital Copenhagen is also located.

Funen is known for is lovely nature and beautiful old houses, but this has already been described in a previous story (Easter in Molly).

We took our bikes to check out some of the trails in Funen, and we actually had high expectations, since we had heard a lot about some of the trails.

We did not ride all of there trails in Funen, so this blog is missing something, but nonetheless this is about some of the trails in Funen.

Jakob has already ridden the trail at Langesø, which is a trail, where you need to pay a fee in order to ride it. It is a nice trail with some very technical elements, and so it is not really for us, when we also bring the girls. It has some nice nature and a place to wash your bike, and it is really good fun, so it is definitely worth trying – maybe just not with small children.

But here are our valuations of the different trails, we rode during our Easter tour:

Middelfart (Staurby Skov):

Cozy little trail near the motorway crossing Funen – 7,4km long.

We stopped at a nice little parking lot to try the first trail of the trip. We did not know anything about this trail, but we found it on the singletracker app, and was a nice break after about an hour of driving from Aarhus.

Katrine took of, and if you are following the red trail, it is a pretty rough start. A little bit of technical elements (drops and step-ups) and some short steep climbs. It has some interesting nature, where you ride through these avenues with trees close to you on both sides – pretty cozy and beautiful.

Some of the red parts are pretty technical (rock gardens and jumps), but you can opt for the blue version also. After a while there is this “bowl”, where you go up and down a lot of times to do some steep climbs and nice descents (some with jumps). Katrine was not impressed with the direction guidance at this part, but it was quite fun.

Jakob took the girls out, and they really enjoyed the blue part of the trail. We did not ride it all, but the sections we tried was really good fun, and definitely rideable for the girls. Small climbs and small descents and a lot of turns.

And when they eventually got tired, it was really easy to find the way back to Molly on the parking lot.

The parking lot was nothing special, but it right next to the forest and had a public toilet. It was definitely possible to stay there for the night, but we had decided to move on and find a spot near the ocean.

Glamsdalens bikepark:

Nice little bikepark in the backyard of a school – 3,2km long

Lots of jumps, drops and berms… Not particularly well maintained but it was alright and it was a good starting point for training jumps and getting a little bit airborne.

Jakob had some fun, and if you want to practice jumps, this could be a good place to hang out for a day – but it was too advanced for Lærke and Sofie.

Parking lot was just that – a parking lot.

Lærkedal:

Beautifully located trail in the middle of… well, nature – 3,7km long

We just needed to go here – because it is called Lærkedal. So of course Lærke was ready to try this trail. But it was actually maybe just a little bit to hilly for her taste. On the other hand it was perfect for Sofie.

Where e.g. Grenå is lacking some altitude meters, Lærkedal provided just this. It is up and down – but just in the right way for a 7-year-old girl with some power in the legs. Sofie was really liking this trail, and the length of it was also perfect for her.

There is nothing challenging about it for an experienced rider, but it was great fun watching Sofie riding a “real” mountainbike trail.

Lærke got tired pretty fast, so Jakob did a lot of pushing uphill, but she did try some larger (for her size) drops and enjoyed it.

All in all – really great trail for the slightly older children, and the scenery is really nice.

And in terms of scenery: There is nothing for the campervan owner on the sight, but it could be a nice place to wake up after a night in the van – we just had other plans, so we moved on…

Skovhuggeren:

A really great trail for a lot of riders – one of the best in DK – 15,1km long

Technical elements – some of them very technical! But also a lot of really nice flowy trail sections. There is both a blue and a red option, but sometimes also black and even orange for extreme…

Good descents, technical balance stuff over logs and a big smile!

The girls tried a little bit of the blue trail, which was good but maybe a little long, but you can just choose different sections. Furthermore they really liked cheering for mom, when she at some point did a descent very close to the main starting area.

As a family we stayed there for many hours. The weather was nice, and there is a huge outdoor table for enjoying meals and playing cards. The is also a small cabin-like thing, where you can sit nice and comfy, if the weather is not so good. Inside here they have arranged some electrical heaters, an electric kettle and a woodturning stove, so you have plenty of options to keep warm.

In this area there is also a place for fixing your bike with some tools and a pump, and furthermore they have a hose and some stands for washing your bike.

So it is really a great area, where things have been thought through.

Only thing is that there is an entrance fee for using the trails, but this is because, the trail is located in a private forests, and they have to pay a lot to rent it from the landlord.

But it is not that expensive (100 kroner for three days), and it is nice to support a trail like this.

You cannot park your car (or van) right next to the trail, so there is a short transportation ride to and from the trail to a parking lot. This parking lot is pretty exposed and not a very good place to stay with a van, but then again you have the really nice main area, where the trail starts.

Stay balanced – The MTB Family