Singletrack Glacensis is a system of bicycle routes in the Kłodzko region. Almost 30 loops of various lengths and difficulties give a total of approximately 230 km of trails dedicated to bikers. Read about my favorite routes and find out if it’s something for you.

Singletracks (i.e. one-way paths narrow enough to accommodate only one bicycle) can be found in many areas in Poland and other countries, but nowhere else in Europe is there a region so full of paths. The loops on Singletrack Glacensis range from 2 km long to almost 30 km long and most of them are connected to each other, so you can plan a route of 50 km, 100 km or even more and ride entirely on pleasant forest bike paths, away from from cars and pedestrians.

For example, this year I did a route from Długopole-Zdrój, through Lądek-Zdrój to Bardo, i.e. 92 km almost entirely on Glacensis singletracks.

It is in this region (around Międzygórze, Lądek-Zdrój, Złoty Stok, Bardo) that there are the most Glacensis singletrails. You can create a loop there that is over 200 kilometers long, and only about 10% of it will be on ordinary gravel and asphalt roads.

There are a few single tracks a bit out of the way near Kudowa-Zdrój, Duszniki-Zdrój and Międzylesie, but there are plans to build 120 km of bike trails that will connect them with the remaining single tracks.

What are the characteristics of Singletracks Glacensis?

Most of them are narrow, smooth paths in the forest. They are supposed to be for everyone, but in practice some people love them and others, especially those who are more technically advanced, complain that they are boring.

The routes are rated on a scale of 1 to 4, which covers both technical and fitness difficulty. Visit singletrackglacensis.com/trasy for information about the difficulty of each loop. Only on routes of difficulty 4 you can encounter fragments that may be a challenge for beginners, and routes rated 1 and 2 can be ridden even on gravel bike. There are no trails too demanding for a regular mountain bike, i.e. hardtail to XC.

I started riding Glacensis Singletracks with almost no technical skills yet. Over the last 2 years, my skills have improved a lot, I now ride on a full suspension bike on red and sometimes black trails, and yet I still like Glacensis trails. I treat them as fitness training combined with pleasant descents. Thanks to the fact that they are easy, I don’t feel the need to put on a full face helmet and a full set of protectors, which are extremely hot in the summer. I put on a regular helmet, knee and elbow pads and gloves in my backpack, because just in case I sometimes wear them on longer descents, and off I go… I have a whole day of riding in nature ahead of me. On some routes, at the right time of year, you can encounter raspberries, blackberries or blueberries :) There are also shelters under which you can rest comfortably.

Some people also complain that there is no flow on Glacensis singletrails. It’s true, many routes have a lot of tight, flat corners/berms that are difficult to ride at high speed and you have to slow down a lot before them, which ruins the feeling of flow. However, I treat them as a challenge and an opportunity to practice turns, which I know are my weakness.

Singletracks Glacensis is also characterized by gentle uphills, which I really like. Where the slope is steep, turns are made to keep the slope low. For beginners, navigating such sharp corners may be a challenge, but I assure you that everything can be ridden :)

Glacensis singletracks have different characteristics when it comes to climbing versus descending. There are routes where there is only an uphill in one direction and only a downhill in the other, for example the Trojak Loop in Lądek-Zdrój or the Rudka Loop near Stronie Śląskie. There are some where there is a clear uphill part and a clear downhill part, but the downhill part has small uphill sections and vice versa. Such a single track is, for example, one of the longer routes – the Orłowiec Loop near Lądek-Zdrój.

There are also those that have alternating descents and ascents along the entire route, for example Kłodzka Loop and Ostoja Loop.

Route markings in the Singletrack Glacensis system

Glacensis loops have two parts – red and blue, and these colors are marked with arrows in the field.

However, these colors do not indicate the technical difficulty of the mtb trails, as in bike parks. They also do not tell you whether you are on an uphill or downhill part, because, as I mentioned above, there are routes that do not have a clear uphill and downhill part, and also have a red and blue part. These colors only serve to indicate the direction of travel. The red ones go more or less south and the blue ones go more or less north. These markings can be especially helpful if you’re riding the entire loop from start to finish. If you had red arrows and now you have blue ones, or vice versa, it means that you have started to turn back.

The exception in terms of markings are singletracks near Kudowa-Zdrój, which are marked with colors indicating their difficulty.

However, this is not a “bike park scale” either. The Everest loop, which is marked as black (because it is the most difficult single track in this area), would be a blue trail in a bike park.

The most interesting and hardest Singletracks Glacensis

There are several Glacensis routes that deserve special attention.

One of them is Trojak Loop, which has a rock garden on both the uphill and downhill sections, i.e. a rocky section, which is an interesting change from smooth gravel surfaces.

It’s also worth riding because it’s one of Glacensis’ best flow singletrails. Not all, but many of the berms are profiled just right to ensure a nice, smooth ride. And if you combine this route with the descent from Zdrój Loop, you will have a total of over 5 km of continuous descent.

You can also catch a great flow on the Pod Śnieżnikiem Loop. A short route, but it’s really worth taking.

I also like Rudka Loop. On the approximately 4.5 km long descent there are some roots and stones, and even a small drop, so it’s interesting. These are the kinds of extra features I miss a bit on Glacensis. A drop here, a tabletop there, another jump somewhere and it would be more interesting. But I know that such changes are planned :)

If you like roots, you might like the Ostoja Loop, which has a rooty section of approximately 400m on more or less flat terrain.

One of the more difficult singletracks of Glacensis is the short Everest Loop. Unlike other routes, the uphill path is quite steep in some places and the descent is also a bit steeper in some places.

It is even steeper on the Sołtysia Loop. There, some berms can really pose a problem for beginner bikers.

Access and accommodation to Singletrack Glacensis

If you want to get there by car, check out the official Singletrack Glacensis website linked earlier. On each route you will find information on where you can park. Personally, I use trains quite often. Bardo is the closest to the singletrails start, but Lower Silesian Railways also runs, among others, to Międzylesie, Bystrzyca-Kłodzka, Kłodzko, Kudowa-Zdrój, Duszniki-Zdrój and from there it’s not far to singletracks.

It is best to find accommodation on the official website: singletrackglacensis.com/punkty-certyfikowane. Certified points are places where you will definitely be welcomed with your bike and they will provide a suitable place to leave it overnight. They include both small agritourism farms, such as Trzy Morza visible in the photo, and large hotels.

Glacensis Flow Trip – for those who don’t like uphills

If you don’t want to get tired on the climbs, but want to go down as much as possible, you may be interested in the Glacensis Flow Trip offer. This is a one-day group trip, during which a bus with a trailer takes participants to appropriate places so that they can enjoy the descents. This does not mean that there are no climbs at all, because you can’t do that on Glacensis, but they are limited to a minimum. More information can be found at: singletrackglacensis.com/glacensis-flow-trip.

Bike Region Glacensis – not only easy singletrails

It is worth knowing that Singletrack Glacensis is part of an entire area called Bike Region Glacensis. It also includes three places worth visiting: Family Bike Park Zieleniec, great for beginners, Bike Park Czarna Góra, intended mainly for advanced riders, and Enduro Trails Srebrna Góra. The latter does not have a ski lift, like in bike parks, but there are buses with bicycle trailers, and the difficulty of the trails is approximately between Zieleniec and Czarna Góra. I will write more about Srebrna and Czarna Góra in the future, but for now, please visit my YouTube channel, where you will find recordings from various routes in the Bike Region of Glacensis.

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