Finale Ligure is one of the most sought-after enduro places in Europe. Over the years, trail builders have worked hard to expand the operational area more and more, drawing new lines, cleaning up old trails, and keeping them all in good condition. The Finale Outdoor Region (FOR) has worked hard to create a topographical map stretching from Savona to Bardineto as best they can. On this map are all the trails in Finale and beyond. It includes, of course, paved and dirt connecting roads, trail names, and mountain names with their elevations.
How it is structured:
On the map, enduro trails are marked with four different colors of difficulty and each color is associated with the STS scale:
Green-S1
Blue-S2
Purple-S3
Black-S4
With the advent of e-bikes, uphill trails have been opened specifically for e-bikes, the so called powerstages. Also marked on this map are these magnificent trails that will test your technical skills. They are marked with three different levels of difficulty and the symbol is a lightning bolt. Blue lightning easy, red lightning intermediate, black lightning very difficult.
Each trail has been baptized with a name and number. For the sake of clarity and space, the names have not been shown on the map but have been placed in legend style at the bottom of the map, while the trail number is adjacent to the trail on the map. This is to have a clear and limpid reading.
We always advise caution and care on trails. There are no descriptions or photos on the map, just as there are no details that make a trail dangerous.
Scouting apps
Exploring by bike is in our opinion one of the most rewarding and adventurous experiences one can have in life, however, one must do it carefully. Mistakenly Finale is almost thought of as a bike park but nothing could be further from that. The Finale area is huge and often finding trails is not as easy as it may seem and here we must admit, smartphone apps come in very handy. Not all that glitters is gold, however... First of all, we have to consider that the trails are almost always deep in the forest and far from the sea. This makes navigation more difficult since really very often phone reception is absent. What we need to pay close attention to, however, are the difficulty levels marked on the apps.
The colors that the apps use to mark the difficulty of the trails do not match the colors on the FOR map. This would not be a problem except that often the colors do not match the trail at all.
Description of some trails:
For example, one of the most hidden trails is the Castagna, in the Pian delle bosse area between Loano and Pietra Ligure. It is a magnificent trail but quite challenging, there is a very long and steep rock garden and a series of very narrow and steep bends. On the apps we find it marked in blue, in reality it is for all intents and purposes a black trail, S3+.
Hiroshima mon amour, one of the youngest trails in Finale and often used for EWS is also marked blue on the apps. On the FOR map, however, it is marked as purple (S3) because of the several steep spots and the large number of technical turns. Again, the difficulty level marked on the apps is incorrect, so we recommend caution.
Immediately after Hiroshima we find the two trails Hell boy 1 and Hell boy 2. Both trails are very different from Hiroshima but again the level marked on the apps is blue while its ideal marking level would be S2+/S3. Before venturing out on these two trails we recommend that you ask the FOR for information since due to its morphology the Hell boy 2 trail may be impassable.
And we come to one of the most famous trails in the area: the Rollercoaster. Locals tend to divide the trail into two parts; the first one very flow full of banks and very fast while after the junction with the forest road the trail style changes. Still remaining flow and fun there is no shortage of technical passages, rock and very often extremely dry terrain. On the FOR map the trail is marked with two different difficulties: blue for the first part and purple for the second. On the apps, however, it is marked entirely in blue. It is not a particularly complex trail but the second part requires good riding control.
In any case, we recommend before you set off on your adventure to consult the FOR and ask for an update on the status of the trails you want to explore. Have fun everyone!!! Ride safe 😎