Commune web site.
Houffalize World Cup and Bike Festival (7-15 April 2012). Wikipedia.
Trail setup
The local bike shop helped in analysing the difficulty of these trails. Of the difficult trails, trails 6 and 3 are more technical than trail number 4. Hill factor calculations above have all been done by extracting distance and height meter information from Rob's (ride profiles also available!).
All trails go through Houffalize centre. For a good overview, see the Dutch bikespot site. Trail distance information differs depending on which web site you consult. The 1:25,000-scale map can be bought from the tourist office or the local bike shop.
Trail number 1 is a shorter version of trail number 2.
Trail number 2 starts out west with trails number 1 and 3. Trail number 1 is a shorter version of trail number 2 and breaks off first, to the north. When trail number 3 breaks off south, in village of Bonnerue, trail number 2 continue west, until village of Engreux. Here, it trails back east, overlaps a section with trail number 1 (arriving from the south), takes on an extra loop by itself just south of village of Mont, then overlaps a tiny section with trail number 1 again (just before Houffalize), only to shoot off for an additional loop on its own into the northeast. The last bit back into Houffalize it overlaps with trail number 5 (in the same direction).
Trail number 3 starts out west with trails number 1 and 2. Trail number 1 breaks off first, to the north. In village of Bonnerue, trail number 2 continues west, while trail number 3 breaks off south. In village of MabomprE, it loops west. Just south of Houffalize, trail number 4 joins up, and the two trails overlap for quite a distance. When trail number 4 breaks off east, trail number 3 continues south to village of Hardigny. From here, it trails east, crosses trail number 4, loops on its own for a long section, then overlaps a short section (in the same direction) with trail number 5. As it cuts northwest, it re-joins with trail number 4 (arriving from the northeast). The two trails overlap the remaining (rather long) distance back into Houffalize, taking in also the northern part of finishing trail number 6.
Trail number 6 starts with a double-back section, overlapping (in both directions) with trails number 3 and 4. When starting its loop in southerly anti-clockwise direction, it overlaps a huge chunk with trail number 5. Breaking off north it travels on its own. Trails 3 and 4 join up from the east the last bit back into Houffalize.
Trail number 4 heads out south, catching up with trail number 3 (arriving from a loop in the west). The two trails overlap for quite a section. Trail number 3 goes south to village of Hardigny, but trail number 4 breaks off east shortly before that, and later, going south, crosses trail number 3 (arriving from the west). It loops through and south of village of Boeur, until the railway. Here, it travels along the railway for the longest distance before it turns first northwest, and then southwest, to overlap with trail number 5 (in opposite directions). As it turns northwest again, it re-joins with trail number 3 (arriving from the southwest) and the two trails overlap the remaining (rather long) distance back into Houffalize, taking in also the northern part of finish trail number 6.
Trail number 5 loops east of Houffalize, taking in at least half of the distance of trail number 6. It overlaps short sections with trails number 3 (same direction) and 4 (opposite directions) in the east, after which it loops all by itself for most of its remaining distance. At the level of village of Steinbach, trail number 5 loops back west through village of Brisy. Last bit back into Houffalize, it overlaps with trail number 2 (in the same direction).
Interconnecting trails
Bertogne in the southwest (Ah! I see this page is not updated!), La Roche-en-Ardenne in the west .. and do not forget that the country of Luxemburg is close, for example the trail of Winseler.
Notes
Houffalize is a popular mountain bike destination, by many considered the Mekka of Belgian mountain biking. Normally it houses the UCI World Cup event one weekend in spring. I tend to go there for at least that weekend, to do some riding, but in particular to enjoy the fantastic ambiance of many bikers and their beloved bikes, and the usual bike exposition. The bike exposition is more about gadgets and teams than finding maps of and inspiration for new places to go riding ..
But: Mekka of Belgian mountain biking? I am not impressed. It's hilly, of course, but I didn't see much singletrack. I still go here, but only in connection with the World Cup or another mountain bike event.
I should perhaps re-evaluate my opinion: Adri rides here every year, and he has told me that the shorter distances might be more to my taste.
My theoretical favourites for the future remain the following: Longer distances, trails number 5 and 3; shorter distances, trails number 6 and 2. Mental note: Trails number 2 and 3 overlap quite a lot in the west, and trail number 5 loops over close to half the distance of trail number 6. It's either the combinations above, or riding the same sections twice.
