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Forbidden passes

En fonction des retours de terrain de nos membres et selon d’autres sources d’informations, nous savons que certains cols ne sont pas accessibles aux cyclistes, durablement ou temporairement.

These prohibited collars appear in our catalogues[1] among validated passes. This means that they can be included in the pass declarations. The prohibition, the reason for the prohibition and sometimes the only side prohibited are indicated in red in the "Access" column of the catalogue and the passes are classified, like all validated passes, as "Type" and "Difficulty".

  • The largest number of prohibited passes are in the National Parks or, another example, in the "Wilderness" in the United States, for example 767 passes banned in national parks in France, 1152 in the "Wilderness" in the United States.
    In France, It is forbidden to ride a bicycle or mountain bike in these national parks, and if you are stopped by park officials, the fine is €135. And the fact that you're walking alongside your bike doesn't change the ban.
  • Certain passes or accesses to passes are located in a private property[2]. Le propriétaire impose souvent une interdiction formelle de pénétrer dans sa propriété. Contrevenir à cette injonction expose à des expériences souvent désagréables. Par contre, demander l’autorisation préalable ne coûte rien et peut parfois permettre de franchir le col et de le valider.
  • Another category concerns passes made inaccessible by prefectoral or municipal decrees. The cause is often temporary.
    • Les exemples sont divers et très nombreux ; on peut en citer quelques uns mais cette liste n’est pas exhaustive, bien au contraire :
      • Every summer in certain fire-prone forest areas.
        For example, the iSeasonal ban in the forest areas of Bouches-du-Rhône in France
      • Or the ban on mountain bikes between 01-05 and 30-09 in the park of Snowdonia in Wales
      • For mountain roads, roads undergoing roadworks, snow-covered roads, dangerous roads, such as the route de la Sella Lussari, concreted this spring 2023 for the passage of a Giro time trial in Italy, but banned since then because it is dangerous and in a protected area.
      • Or even mule passes that are off-limits to bicycles, such as the Collet de Boutavent in Switzerland, banned from 10 May to 10 October.
  • The areas or military land are very often forbidden to approach or circulate. For example, in France, in the Var (83), a number of road and mule passes in the Canjuers military camp are totally prohibited.
  • Une catégorie d’interdiction concerne enfin les cols situés sur les roads for cars (motorways and expressways in general) reserved exclusively for fast motor vehicles and indicated by a prohibition sign. However, these passes can often be crossed by parallel roads or bridges.

All cyclists must comply with the Highway Code and current legislation.

In its worldwide catalogue of collars, the club does its best to keep these prohibitions up to date.

Club members and non-members alike are strongly encouraged to find out more in our catalogues conditions of access to the passes. 
Car, le club tient à avoir une réputation extérieure flatteuse : nous adorons franchir des cols mais pas à n’importe quel prix ni dans n’importe quelles conditions. Aussi, nous vous remercions de respecter ces interdictions et de nous faire connaître vos retours de terrain concernant une interdiction ou au contraire une levée d’interdiction.

Based on feedback from our members and other sources of information, we know that some passes are not accessible to cyclists, either permanently or temporarily.

[1] For example, 950 passes are banned in the catalogue of French passes, 11 in the catalogue of Italian passes and 34 in the catalogue of Swiss passes,
[2] For example, 48 private passes in the catalogue of French passes or 2 in each of the Swiss or Italian pass catlogues.