Bischofsmais MTB Guide: Bikepark Geisskopf, Bavarian Forest

Tucked into the granite folds of the Bavarian Forest, Bischofsmais hosts one of Europe's oldest purpose-built bike parks. Geisskopf opened in 1999 and still sets the template for lift-served freeride riding in Germany.

By the IMPT Travel desk · Published 2026-05-30

The Geisskopf summit sits at 1,097 metres above the village of Bischofsmais, and the rock that surfaces on its upper flanks is the same coarse Bavarian granite that has defined the region's downhill character for a quarter-century. Rooty, stony, technical at the top, then increasingly fast and shaped as the gradient eases toward the valley station — this is a park built by riders who learned freeride before there was a word for it in German.

A pioneer park, still evolving

The MTB Zone Bikepark Geisskopf opened on 11 June 1999, making it one of the first lift-served bike parks in Europe. The original concept came from trail designer Diddie Schneider, who has continued to shape the trail map across more than two decades and is widely credited with importing North American freeride thinking into the Bavarian Forest. The park has hosted iXS European Downhill Cup rounds — the 2009 European Cup final ran here over 12-13 September with 288 riders from 17 nations, won in the elite men's category by Marcus Klausmann.

Today the park lists 16 trails across roughly 20 kilometres of lift-served descents, ranging from a children's parcours to the rocky upper sections used in race weekends.

Signature trails

Geisskopf's reputation rests on a handful of distinct trails, each with a clear personality:

• Flow Country Trail — the long, bermed blue line that defines the modern Geisskopf experience. Around 6 km, jumps rollable, sightlines clean, ideal for a first lap or a warm-down at the end of the day.
• Evil Eye 2.0 — a black-grade trail roughly 3 km long, packed with technical features and the trail most often cited by visiting riders as the park's calling card.
• Downhill — the natural, stony race line, around 2 km of the rockiest, most demanding riding on the hill.
• Freeride — a rooty, classic-feel trail, around 3 km, that traces back to the park's original 1999 ethos.
• Jump Line, 5er Table Line and Slopestyle — three stacked progression trails for riders working on airtime.
• North Shore variants and a dual Biker-Cross track for technical practice and head-to-head sessions.

Lift system

The Geisskopf chairlift runs as a three-seater in summer and converts to a five-seater configuration in the winter ski season. Lift hours during the riding season are typically 09:00 to 16:45, with the last uphill at 16:30. The park generally operates Wednesday through Sunday, with daily running during Bavarian school holidays and on public holidays.

Season window

The lift-served season at Geisskopf runs roughly from late April or early May into November, with the 2026 season opening on 7 April. Peak conditions arrive between June and September: long daylight, dry granite, and reliably open trails. May can still feel cold and damp under the spruce canopy, and late October laps reward riders willing to deal with leaf litter and short days. Outside the riding months, the same lift carries skiers, sledders and snowshoers — the mountain rarely sits idle.

Getting there without a car

The Bavarian Forest is one of the more straightforward European bike-park destinations to reach by train. From Munich or Nuremberg, IC services run to Plattling, where the Waldbahn regional line (RB 35) connects to Deggendorf. From Deggendorf, bus route 4116 serves Bischofsmais directly; from the east, route 6201 runs from Regen. Riders coming from Prague or the Czech border can also use the small Triefenried station, which leaves roughly 5 km on the road to the valley station — short enough to spin on a transfer bike. The nearest large airport is Munich (MUC), about two and a half hours by rail and bus. For visitors weighing carbon footprint against convenience, the train-and-bus chain genuinely works here in a way that it does not at many alpine parks.

Where to stay

Accommodation in Bischofsmais village is built around the bike-park economy: family-run Gasthöfe, pensions and small hotels cluster within walking or short shuttle distance of the valley station, with bike-wash facilities and secure overnight storage common rather than premium. Forest holiday apartments suit groups travelling with their own tools and a roof box of spares. For riders chasing quieter trails, neighbouring villages in the Arberland and around the Großer Arber give a similar base with more forest on the doorstep, at the cost of a short transfer to the lift each morning.

How long to stay

A weekend covers the park's signature lines if a rider commits to early lifts and a shuttle plan. Three to five days is more honest: it allows time to repeat the Evil Eye 2.0 until it flows, to chase the jump progressions across the slopestyle and table lines, and to use a rest day for the wider Bavarian Forest network — a national-park landscape of long valleys and quiet forest gravel that complements the lift days well.

A 2024 top-to-bottom POV trail guide covering every line at Bikepark Geisskopf, from the Flow Country to Evil Eye 2.0.