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The “Rhön Spessart Ride” is intended to create a new mountain bike connection between the Rhön and Spessart – including visitor guidance and a nature conservation concept.
Rhön – A new, officially managed mountain bike route will in future connect the Rhön and Spessart and at the same time protect nature and defuse conflicts on the paths, as the Rhön Biosphere Reserve reports.
According to the information, the LEADER cooperation project “Rhön Spessart Ride” creates an attractive mountain bike connection between two important outdoor destinations in Bavaria and Hesse. The aim is to link the already established mountain bike networks in the Spessart and Rhön and to create a continuous, high-quality signposted route on existing paths. The “Rhön Spessart Ride” is intended to offer mountain bikers an attractive, officially guided route that gives both regions a new tourist experience.
Official mountain bike route planned through Rhön and Spessart
The background to the project is the growing number of mountain bikers in both regions and the increasing use of non-designated paths. “This repeatedly creates conflicts of use with hikers and other people seeking relaxation or strains on sensitive natural areas,” it says. Our newspaper has also already reported on this area of tension in the Rhön.
As the Rhön Biosphere Reserve reports, it also shows that if there is no attractive, official offer available, users look for ways on their own. This is exactly where the project comes in – the “Rhön Spessart Ride” is intended to direct cyclists to suitable routes.
The focus is on a uniform signage concept. This includes the production of signposts according to regional standards and their installation along the Rhön section. Funds from European LEADER funding amounting to 13,708 euros have now been approved for the implementation of the marking and signage.
Everyone involved is hoping for new tourism offerings
On the Feuerberg, the Lower Franconian LEADER coordinator Daniel Pascal Klaehre officially handed over the grant notice to Lisa Jensen, managing director of the Bavarian Rhön Nature Park and Biosphere Reserve. As can be heard from Rhön GmbH and the local action groups (LAGen) involved, all partners associate the project with the hope of successful, long-term cooperation for a new tourist offer.
The “Rhön Spessart Ride” pursues several goals: The project is intended to contribute to gentle and sustainable tourism in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve and the Bavarian Rhön Nature Park. At the same time, the route supports active visitor guidance by specifically guiding guests to attractive and infrastructurally suitable routes as well as tourist highlights. In this way, sensitive natural areas are to be relieved, conflicts of use are reduced and the protection of biodiversity is strengthened. In addition, the region is being further enhanced as a mountain bike destination.
According to Spessart Tourismus und Marketing GmbH, the project was initiated together with Rhön GmbH on the tourism side. The application for LEADER funding was submitted via the Bavarian Rhön Nature Park and Biosphere Reserve. The local action group Rhön-Grabfeld and the LAG Bad Kissingen as well as, on the Hesse side, the LAG SPESSARTregional are involved. According to the project partners, the “Rhön Spessart Ride” represents a contemporary combination of leisure use, nature conservation and regional development.
