Davos Epic Trail: a mountain bike ride report

Is this ride really worth the journey? Let us find out.

Jakobshorn to Filisur: 38 km, 615 m ascent and 2,070 m descent.

GPS track (in Italian).

The trail that never ends

The map reveals the defining feature of this route: a long traverse along the side of a valley. In Italian valleys, it is not always easy to find an MTB trail that keeps doing this without repeatedly returning to tarmac or gravel roads. Here, you can cover many kilometres along the hillside on mostly enjoyable singletrack. That is much of its appeal. In 2014 it received IMBA Epic status, joining a selection of outstanding mountain bike trails worldwide.

Getting to Davos

The Swiss railway website, SBB, provides rail travel information. Our drive from Milan via Como and Chiasso took around three and a half hours.

A brief route description

The trail begins at the top of the Jakobshorn, reached by cable car. From there it crosses several side valleys on the way to Filisur, where we took a train back to Davos.

Davos itself was not a town I particularly liked. It has little of the small Swiss villages I enjoy: the architecture is austere, with large buildings and monumental structures associated with the World Economic Forum. Finding a quiet little bar for a beer was not easy, although we did find one.

Was it worth the journey?

Yes: the trail makes the trip to Davos worthwhile, even simply for the chance to ride somewhere different.

Route map