MTB Ivrea - Lakes and Serra Morenica range

As the gateway to Val d’Aosta from the south, the area around the small town of Ivrea in the foothills of the Alps is well worth a visit, whatever bike you like to ride. Here’s a proposal “made in urbirun” for a wonderful mountain bike tour in the area.

After leaving the town over the first hills, the route really begins when you enter a narrow cobbled lane (just to the left of a small chapel), surrounded by a colonnade that must have supported a pergola, and which forms a gateway to this route on which I had the pleasure of inviting friends during a van&bike weekend.

This leads to the first single trail, descending to Lake Pistono, which we’ll follow on the south shore. On the other side of the lake, at the top of a hill, stands the Castello di Montaldo with its 4 crenellated turrets (if the vegetation is too dense, you’ll have to stray slightly from the path on the lake side to get to the viewpoints).

A short climb takes us to the next small lake, Black Lake, nestling in the heart of a thick forest. There’s a great single trail around it, and you have to make the most of it… because to get out of the combe at the bottom of which this little lake nestles, you’ll have to tackle a very steep path, and a rather technical one because of the rocks and large pebbles that dot it… you may well have to shortly walk your bike. We all did (even those in eMTB). But it’s a short walk, just a few hundred meters.

We rejoined a road, for 2–3 km of respite, before the main climb of the day (but you have to earn the downhill, don’t you?).

Here we go for just under 6km of ascent, on a tarmac road, at an average gradient of almost 10%… you have to hang in there and be patient, but it goes by, and on the way you can enjoy the scenery over the plain, with the Alps in the background.

Shortly after the little village of Andrate, you reach the crest of the moraine range, the Serra Morenica of Ivrea. Your reward.

And off we go, for surely one of the longest flowtrails you’ll ever ride (it clearly was for all of us), along this ridge, through a beautiful forest. Frankly, it’s a dream of a ride, with a slope that’s not too steep, little ascents, parts that are a little stony, others with a few roots, and others that are more sandy, it’s truly a delight. You just don’t want it to end (the pure descenders will no doubt find it a little too quiet and easy – but they’ll for sure enjoy it all the same).

You stop every now and then, like on a great ski run. You know those moments when you don’t really want to stop, because it’s too good, but you do anyway, because it’s too good, and to make it last longer.

After more than 12km of pure pleasure, the descent continues on a forest track where, after the right-hand hairpin and before the road, the most daring can try a few small jumps over natural bulges, which seem to be made for this purpose (not me, I’ve still got to learn how to jump).

We then find ourselves almost at the foot of this moraine range, on its western flank, which we’ll ride along to a very old bell tower (nearly 700 years old), the only vestige of a church in the middle of a meadow on the edge of the forest.

Then it’s the last short climb of the day, before a descent through the village of Chiaverano (why not take a short coffee, beer or ice tea break there), before briefly rejoining a larger road.

But after 2–300m, it’s back to the forest for one last long kilometer on a single track, before returning to the outskirts of the town to complete the loop.

And to sit on a terrace and ask around : "wow, that was really nice, let’s have a drink. What will you have?