---
title: "Hilly Bike Routes: Find Climbing Loops Near You | VeloRand"
canonical_url: "https://velorand.com/guides/hilly-bike-routes"
last_updated: "2026-10-09T07:18:07.100Z"
meta:
  description: "How to find hilly bike routes near you, which kind of climbing suits your goal, and how to build climbing loops from your door for training, a mountain trip or a harder short ride."
  "og:description": "How to find hilly bike routes near you, which kind of climbing suits your goal, and how to build climbing loops from your door for training, a mountain trip or a harder short ride."
  "og:title": "Hilly Bike Routes: Find Climbing Loops Near You"
---

Hilly bike routes

# **Hilly Bike Routes: How to Find Climbing Loops Near You and Train on Them**

Most riders know one or two hills near home and ride them over and over. That works for a while, but sooner or later the same climb gets boring, or it is simply not enough for what you are training for. A sportive with 2,000 m of climbing, a week in the Alps or a hilly gravel event needs more than one familiar ramp.

This guide covers how to find the climbing around you, which kind of hills fit which goal, and how to turn them into loops you actually want to ride. It is the counterpart to our [flat bike routes guide](https://velorand.com/guides/flat-bike-routes), which explains how to read elevation numbers in the first place.

## **Not all climbing is the same**

Two routes with the same total elevation gain can train completely different things. Before you go looking for hills, it helps to know which kind you need:

- Long, steady climbs: several kilometers at 4 to 7 %. They build the ability to hold a steady effort for 20 minutes or more, which is what alpine passes demand.
- Short, punchy climbs: a few hundred meters at 8 % or more. They build power and the ability to recover between efforts, which is what rolling sportives and group rides demand.
- Rolling terrain: constant ups and downs without any one big climb. Good for endurance and pacing practice, and often the most fun.

## **How much climbing to aim for**

A useful measure is climbing per kilometer: total gain divided by distance. Around 10 to 15 m/km is properly hilly, and anything above 15 m/km is mountainous. A 50 km loop with 600 m of climbing (12 m/km) is a solid hilly ride for most club riders.

If you are preparing for a specific event, compare its climbing per kilometer with your training loops. You do not need to match the total on every ride, but your harder weekly ride should get close to the event's density of climbing so the effort does not come as a surprise.

## **How to find hilly routes near you**

Start with the map. River valleys are flat at the bottom, but every road that leaves them climbs. Roads that cross from one valley to the next, forest roads up to a viewpoint and anything leading to a hilltop village are good candidates. Segment leaderboards on Strava also show where local riders go to suffer.

Finding the climbs is the easy part. Linking them into a loop without long flat stretches or busy main roads in between takes much longer. This is where a generator saves time: in VeloRand you set the distance, choose the hilly elevation profile, and the app builds a loop back to your start point that seeks out the climbs instead of avoiding them. Generate again from the same settings to get a different loop, so you are not stuck riding the same three hills every week.

If there is one climb you definitely want in the ride, add it as a fixed waypoint and let VeloRand build the rest of the loop around it.

## **Pick the right route type for the hills**

Hilly roads are often small roads, and small roads vary a lot in surface. On a road bike, use the road route type so the loop stays on paved roads; our [road bike tour planner guide](https://velorand.com/guides/road-bike-tour-planner) has more on that. On a gravel bike, forest tracks often give you the steepest and quietest climbs in the area, and the gravel route type will use them. Our [gravel and road route guide](https://velorand.com/guides/gravel-road-bike-route-generator) explains the difference.

## **Riding hilly routes well**

A few habits make hilly rides better and safer:

- Start the first climb easier than feels necessary. Going too hard on the first hill is the most common way to ruin the rest of the ride.
- Shift before the gradient bites, not halfway up when the chain is under full load.
- Eat and drink on the flatter sections and descents, because it is hard to do on a steep climb.
- Take descents carefully in autumn and winter. Wet leaves, gravel washed onto the road and low sun in the trees make corners much less predictable.
- Bring an extra layer for long descents. A sweaty jersey and 50 km/h wind cool you down very quickly.

## **Build a week around the hills**

Climbing is hard on the legs, so one or two hilly rides a week is enough for most riders. Mix them with balanced loops for everyday riding and flat routes for recovery days. If you ride an e-bike, remember that climbing is what drains the battery fastest; our [e-bike route planning guide](https://velorand.com/guides/ebike-route-planning-range-elevation) explains how to balance range and elevation.

Once you have a loop you like, export it as GPX and follow it in the navigation app or bike computer you already use. See our [GPX export guide](https://velorand.com/guides/export-gpx-bike-computer) for how that works.

## Your next ride is already waiting

Download VeloRand today and discover the best unexplored loops right in your neighborhood.

[Get it on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.thekolo.velorand&referrer=utm_source%3Dvelorand_site%26utm_medium%3Dweb%26utm_campaign%3Dsite_cta%26utm_content%3Dcta-guide) [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/velorand/id6789124071)

## **FAQ**

**How many meters of climbing make a bike route hilly?**

As a rule of thumb, around 10 to 15 meters of climbing per kilometer feels properly hilly to most riders. On a 50 km ride that is 500 to 750 m of total gain. Above 15 m/km, a route counts as mountainous.

**How can I find hilly bike routes near me?**

Look for roads that leave river valleys, routes to viewpoints and hilltop villages, and popular Strava climbing segments. Or use a route generator like VeloRand, set the elevation profile to hilly, and it builds a loop with climbing from your current location.

**How often should I ride hilly routes when training?**

For most riders, one or two hilly rides a week is enough, with easier flat or balanced rides in between to recover. If you are preparing for a mountain event, make the hilly ride your longest ride of the week as the event gets closer.

## **More guides**

[<h3>**Random bike route generator**</h3>Same loop every week? Roll the dice and get a brand-new route at your chosen distance in seconds.](https://velorand.com/guides/random-bike-route-generator) [<h3>**Circular bike route planner**</h3>A loop at your target distance, straight from your door – no waypoint fiddling, no riding back the way you came.](https://velorand.com/guides/circular-bike-route-planner) [<h3>**Bike ride ideas near me**</h3>No more route research: turn every after-work ride and every Sunday into a new discovery.](https://velorand.com/guides/bike-ride-ideas-near-me)