Health
Overview of doorings in Montreal
Environment
Learn more about the environmental benefits of cycling and its impact on the built environment, in both urban and rural settings.
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4
Recreational Biking Infrastructures
Beyond being a means of transportation, biking is also a popular recreational activity for Quebecers every year. With the Route verte, the numerous regional biking networks and mountain biking centres across the province, these infrastructures allow all types of cyclists to live their passion for biking.
Image credits: © Jonathan B. Roy
Source: Vélo Québec (2025). L'état de la Route verte au 31 décembre 2024 - Interactive Map of the Route verte
Route verte
A variety of Biking Infrastructures
The multiples biking infrastructures in Quebec can also be found on the Route verte. Also, because of the multi-use trails built over the years on inactive rail beds, cyclists can enjoy off-road trails on the Route verte on 37 % of the network.
In 2024, the Route verte was made of 1939 kmof bike lanes physically separated from motorized traffic
In 2024, the Route verte was made of 123 kmof bike lanes visually separated from motorized traffic.
In 2024, the Route verte was made of 740 kmof shared lanes with motorized traffic.
In 2024, the Route verte was made of 2350 kmof paved shoulders.
Data: Vélo Québec
Credits: (Bike path) © Guillaume Milette - (Bike lane) © Sandra Larochelle - (Shared roadways) © Anne Williams - (Paved shoulders) © Magalie Dagenais
Credits: © Gabriel Gakwaya
Mountain Biking
Riding Experiences for Everyone
Cross-country cycling is practised on narrow trails, often winding and punctuated by climbs and descents. This discipline of mountain biking, the most popular in 2022, is mainly about stamina, sustained efforts and technical prowess at changing paces.
At the other end of the spectrum, downhill focuses on speed and adrenaline. Cyclists ride often very steep slopes with a variety of technical obstacles. They ascension are usually done mechanically (ex.: chairlift or with a vehicle).
And in between of those two disciplines, enduro combines uphills and downhills on specially designed trails. The focal point of this type of mountain biking remains the downhill sections, but climbs are done by bike.
Finally, other disciplines also exist, such as dirtjumping and slopestyle (focused on aerial figures), freeriding (focused on creativity in descent lines selection) or fatbiking (practiced on unstable surfaces like sand or snow.)
In 2022,62%of the mountain biking ridership practiced cross-country.
In 2024, 98 centershad cross-country trails in Quebec.
In 2022,33%of the mountain biking ridership practiced enduro/all-terrain.
In 2024, 57 centers had enduro trails in Quebec.
In 2022,19%of the mountain biking ridership practiced downhill mountain biking.
In 2024, 27 centers had downhill trails in Quebec.
Data: (2022) Vélo Québec (2023). Portrait des adeptes de vélo de montagne 2023 (highlights) - (2024) Internal data from Vélo Québec
Credits: (Cross-country, Enduro) © Étienne Dionne - (Downhill) © Gabriel Gakwaya
