Greenways
They represent nearly 130 km of itineraries throughout the department. Entirely dedicated to gentle travel, they are of course accessible to bicycles, but also to pedestrians, scooters, rollerblades, skates and pushchairs, making them particularly popular with families and tourists. Safe, they allow to link nature walks and discovery of the local heritage by opening the circulation from villages to villages without using the road network.
Cycling discovery loops
With a view to encouraging alternative forms of travel to the road while enhancing the landscape, the Gard is working to make the department a cycling destination.
Cyclo-discovery loops are signposted cycle routes on roads that are "shared" between bicycles and cars, and which have been chosen for their light traffic. These routes offer users the promise of beautiful rides, at their own pace, through the picturesque villages of the Gard and the superb landscapes of garrigue, vineyards and marshes.Mountain bike routes
Mountain biking is often a sport that requires marked trails suitable for all levels. Whether it's for family rides, tours with friends or solo escapades, the Gard is truly a land of mountain biking!
From north to south, there are 62 marked routes available to you, (to be found in the VTOPO Gard, the departmental mountain bike guide). Set off for a half-day, a day or even a week, everything is possible. And to make your outing easier and better prepared, identify the establishments and places on your route that have the "Accueil Vélo" label.The Rando Gard app
Since 2018, Gard Tourisme, in conjunction with the Department and the intercommunalities, has been involved in the development of a voice guidance application: Rando Gard (Mhikes solution) dedicated to high kinetic practices, such as mountain biking or trail, and to heritage discovery while hiking. It is a mobile outdoor discovery application, designed as a free GPS for hiking or biking.
Used on a mobile phone, it allows you to follow the itinerary of the routes in complete safety, while identifying the surrounding points of interest. In total, Rando Gard offers more than 100 itineraries for walking or cycling. The Rando Gard application is intended to be developed widely in partnership with the territories. It complements the website. Thanks to its voice guidance, it is perfectly suited to both fast sportsmen and women, as well as to people with less experience of hiking.
Information: www.Rando.gard.fr
At the end of 2018, the Departmental Council decided to develop a shared tool for managing and promoting the hiking and outdoor activities offer via the Géotrek solution.
This makes it possible to organize, group and share all the data and skills relating to trail management, involving trail managers and those who maintain them while mobilizing tourism partners, the digital photo library and knowledge of the territory. Scientific data can be made available in the form of points of interest relating to heritage: this is an important added value for the national parks, which thus share their knowledge.
Géotrek is also open to other information systems, offering, in particular, the possibility of enhancing tourism webservices through data flows (accommodation, information sites). In this respect, about ten mountain bike routes, taken from the VTOPO guidebook, are promoted through this site.
Rando Gard offers around twenty mountain bike routes and a dozen discovery cycle routes and greenways listed in the Schéma Départemental des Aménagements Cyclables.
Specialized tools for practice and discovery:
Mountain bike, cycle discovery and greenway offers, promoted by the "Espaces Naturels Gardois" guides
For nearly 20 years, the Department has been developing, in partnership with the territories and sports federations, a network of multi-practice trails with today nearly 10,000 km of trails, 90% of which are accessible by mountain bike. This offer, with more than 456 accessible routes, 90 of which are dedicated to mountain biking, is described in the collection of 28 "Gard Natural Areas" cartoguides co-published by Gard Tourisme with 16 EPCI partners of the Departmental Council under the Gard Pleine Nature label.
The precise position of the greenways and cycle routes managed directly or qualified by the Departmental Council can also be found on the entire collection of guides.
The network of trails accessible by mountain bike shown on these guides is thus perfectly connected to the existing greenways and meets a growing demand for family leisure and daily mobility.
Departmental mountain bike VTOPO guide / promotion of mountain bike routes
In 2016, Gard Tourisme and the Departmental Council entered into a partnership with the company VTOPO in order to have a departmental mountain bike topoguide with the leading publisher in France in this field.
These routes comply with the criteria of the Gard Pleine Nature label by using exclusively qualified trails, also present in the cartoguides of the "Espaces Naturels Gardois" collection.
Mountain bike trails
9,000 km of trails accessible to mountain bikers, including 5 hubs and 80 dedicated routes described in the cartoguides of the Espaces Naturels Gardois collection:
- Pays de Sommières: 5 routes, 11 km in total
- Uzès and the Uzès hills: 12 routes, 271 km in total
- Espace VTT pôle nature 4 saisons du Massif de l'Aigoual : 15 routes, 216 km.
- Grande Traversée du Massif Central à VTT : 105 km from Aigoual to Cirque de Navacelles
- Grande Traversée de l'Ardèche : 40 km between Le Garn and Aiguèze.
National Cycling Centre
Pôle Nature 4 Saisons du Massif de l'Aigoual - FFC Mountain Bike Centre
Since 2014, the Department has been supporting the Community of Communes Causses Aigoual Cévennes Terres Solidaires in the implementation of its 4 Seasons Nature centre of the Massif de l'Aigoual. As such, a mountain bike center, labeled by the French Cycling Federation, has been created and a topoguide, dedicated in the collection "Espaces Naturels Gardois", was published in July 2020.
Label Gard Pleine Nature
The Department has long been committed to a policy of environmental protection based on the acquisition and enhancement of the Department's assets, in particular with the "Gard Pleine Nature" label. This label is awarded to natural areas, hiking facilities, works, but also to sports activities and events organized by associations. In accordance with the political objectives set out in the tourism development plan and the plan for sensitive natural areas, the Departmental Council is pursuing the harmonious development of outdoor activities alongside local players.
In concrete terms, the "Gard Pleine Nature" label is awarded to events and their organisers who commit to respecting eco-responsible commitments such as the use of compostable cups or routes created without damaging nature.
Sporting events with the "Gard Pleine Nature" label contribute to the attractiveness of the Gard, to the protection of the environment and they mobilise associations and the Gard inhabitants on their territory. The organizers concerned address 20,000 sportsmen and women from the Gard and elsewhere. These activities are fully in line with the policies of attractiveness of the territory, preservation and development of ecological wealth.
Charter of commitment to the Gard Pleine Nature label: environmental aspect
Transport: encourage carpooling.
Waste management: limit and sort the volume of waste.
Maintenance: take the environment into account when choosing routes.
Logistics: use "soft" and biodegradable signage. Pick up the signage immediately after the event. Use compostable products (cups, etc.).
Naturalist issues: adapt the event to naturalist and biological issues for the protection of species. Provide the route on a 1:25,000 scale IGN map at least 4 months before the event.
Social aspect: build the event in a participatory manner by enhancing the local context.
Inform the participants and the public in advance about the characteristics of the effort required to practice the proposed discipline. Integrate sustainable development into the communication (internal/external). Pay attention to the food given at refreshment points and refreshment stands. Pay particular attention to the safety and health of participants. Ensure that the site is accessible to as many people as possible (reduced mobility).
Economic aspect: give preference to products manufactured according to the principles of sustainable development. Buy and favour local producers and seasonal products.
Sporting aspect: take into account the regulatory issues (authorisations); comply with the authorisations required for the event to take place (prefecture, local authorities, local players, authorisation to use the site, authorisation(s) to pass through, Natura 2000 impact notice). Respect the regulations published by the federation of the proposed discipline(s).
Take into account the safety issues: have an insurance in adequacy with the level of practice of the discipline concerned. To have an operational medical device adapted to the whole event of the participants of the public.
Consideration of the quality of reception: have sufficient premises, parking, sanitary facilities, accessible to all the public.
Communication: install the communication media available at strategic locations (arrival/departure, podium, reception).
