The Royal Hills Experience: Europe’s Best Riding Spot

The Royal Hills Experience must be on a bucket list of any serious rider no matter what two or four wheel you ride. Probably one of the finest spots of its kind not only outside the US, the Royal Hills is 50 hectares of pure excitement you and your buddies will sing praises about for a long time. Born from fuel pumped hearts, built from professional riders and track builders, the place is unlike anything you've seen so far and the best part is that you can shred Moto, BMX and DH for your private use here. So what exactly is The Royal Hills about?

5. 6. 2015

Located in the south of France, situated at 80 km from Toulouse, near Albi; on the shores of Lac de la Bancalié lies a facility every rider dreams of. Vast area that covers more than 50 hectares of the finest tracks, trails, ramps, jumps and whatnot originated from minds of Belgien FMX riders Steven Stuyven AKA Stoica, and Paul and Pieter Bernolet. They also run the place and we got in touch with Steven to find out what one can find in Saint Antonin De Lacalm, a commune in the Midi Pyrenees region RH is nestled.

"RH offers a very wide variety of off-road sports, MX, SX, FMX, DH, BMX, ENDURO, MTB, 4x4, QUAD TRIAL, you name it. We have two MX tracks (one is a very progressive GP style MX track, and another is perfect for beginners), 2 SX tracks, hard enduro sections, "normal" enduro loops, and endurocross, four different downhill MTB tracks, a pump track, BMX trails, a FMX park with different ramps, and a freeride spot with several dirt jumps up to 35m long. Next to all of this we also offer guided enduro tours in the beautiful area around Royal Hills (tours go from 2 hours up to 8 hours for all levels of enduro riding)".

hitting the 20m motocross jump on a MTB

Over the years the Royal Hills has had some of the biggest names in actions sports come over to see if the hype was true, and they all agreed that it is one of Europe’s best riding spots. Names like Jonny Walker (Hard Enduro legend), David Knight, Andreu Lacondeguy, Nick Franklin, Emma McFerran, Hannes and Luc Ackerman, Clement Desalle, Ken De Dycker, Nico Vink, David Rinaldo, Shaun Simpson, the list goes on and on, they all have been here. Not to forget the whole MOD family, the FMX4Ever crew or the 24MX Honda Team.

"We hope to have a growing interest in our concept so we can keep improving and getting it better until we can officially claim it to be the very best riding spot on the planet", reveals Steven. Fingers crossed.

Apart from the vast area you can shred from dawn to dusk, the domain also offers accommodation (two houses for 10 people each), a private swimming pool, garages, jet wash, or an activity bar. One of the best things about Royal Hills is that it is made for groups that can rent out the facility entirely for a reasonable price whether you go there with your buddies in the "off" season to have fun or train hard till you drop. Now open Google maps and type Saint Antonin De Lacalm 81120. That's the only thing you need to know.

Photos: © RH