Discover france's hidden treasures: hiking, horse riding, and cycling trails 🚵‍♀️🏇🥾

EACH TYPE OF TRAIL HAS ITS OWN DISTINCTIVE MARKER Did you know that 180,000 km of footpaths and trails across France are catalogued by hiking, horse riding and cycling federations? Here is

our guide to the sign meanings. Hiking federation La Fédération française de la randonnée pédestre leads the way when it comes to hiking paths. These footpaths and trails tend to be

categorised according to letters. GR: Long-distance hiking route through a region, with a number and usually a name, signposted in white and red. Sometimes this will be painted on, rather

than a properly printed sign. * GR de pays: A circular route with just one name, to discover a country or geographical area. Marked in yellow and red. * PR: Circular or return walking or

hiking route, less than a day's walk. Yellow colour with a name or number. * Change of direction: An arrow, in a colour that corresponds to the type of route. * Wrong direction: A cross

in a colour corresponding to the type of route. * Horse riding routes: An orange rectangle. * Horse-drawn carriage routes: Two rectangles on 2 orange circles. * ‘La variante’

(variant/alternative route): Sometimes offered as an alternative route to the main route. May depend on season (e.g. during hunting season or during the summer), or the difficulty of

terrain. Read also: GR, GRP, PR: What do the French hiking signs mean?  Read also: MAPS: See routes of Dordogne’s new (and first) GRP hiking trails  BIKING Cycling trails are known as

‘itinéraires VTT’ (vélo tout terrain, or mountain biking).  They are signposted with two circles under a triangle. The colour depends on the type of trail. * Yellow triangle: Local loops *

Brown: Regional nature parks * Red: Major routes of more than 80 km * Orange: Major tourist routes. The direction of the triangle sign depends on the direction of travel: * Go straight on:

Point of the triangle upwards and round at the bottom. * Go right: Point to the right. * Go left: Point to the left. Local loops usually have a number to help differentiate them.  The

difficulty of the route (both physically and technically for riders) is shown by the colour of the number on the sign, or the background colour of the number. They use the same colour scheme

as ski pistes. * Green: Very easy * Blue: Easy * Red: Difficult * Black: Very difficult. Other mountain bike routes for other types of bike (enduro, downhill, electric mountain bike, Fat)

have special signposting.  The cycling federations la Fédération française de cyclisme, and the Fédération française de cyclotourisme can help when it comes to finding the best trails for

your level and desired activity.