Cycling in Dehradun: Routes to Thano, Khalanga and Dawara, and the 1,400 m Climb to Mussoorie

Cycling routes in Dehradun: forest roads to the east, climbs to the north

Dehradun has no dedicated cycle track that we could find, and no public bicycle-sharing scheme running as of October 2026. What it has instead is unusual for an Indian city: forest roads that start at the edge of town and climbs that gain a kilometre or more of height before lunch. Local riders tend to start from one of two points, the Clock Tower in the centre or Raipur Chowk on the eastern side, and a Dehradun outdoor operator has measured eight routes from them. The table lists them from easiest to hardest (one-way figures, checked October 2026).

Best places for cycling in Dehradun if you’re starting out

The easiest cycling in Dehradun is east of Raipur Chowk. The Khalanga route heads towards Maldevta, past Kesarwala, and climbs gently to the Khalanga war memorial, a 12 km ride through sal forest. Khalanga, then called Nala Pani Garh, was one of the 52 garhs, or forts, of Garhwal. The Thano road is longer and flatter: 16 km of forest road from Raipur Chowk towards Bhogpur, with the option of carrying on to Rishikesh for a long day. Both suit a hybrid or a road bike.

These roads run through forest that is home to wildlife. The route guide lists elephants, langurs, deer and snakes along the Thano road and advises against riding it very early in the morning or late in the evening. Ride in daylight, in company where you can, and give any elephant on the road a wide berth and plenty of time. The same road carries Dehradun’s marathon on race morning in early October, so expect runners on it that morning.

Dehradun to Mussoorie by bicycle: the climb in numbers

The ride every Dehradun cyclist eventually tries is the climb to Mussoorie. One operator measures it at 22 km from the Clock Tower with 1,417 m of climbing, which works out to an average gradient of about 6.4% for the whole way. Another runs it as a two-day trip of about 25 km up and 25 km down, from about 430 m to 2,100 m, graded moderate on its own scale, for riders aged 13 and over; riders over 60 need a doctor’s certificate. The route guide notes that local cyclists train on this road, either as a same-day up-and-down or with a night in Mussoorie.

• Gear low and stay seated. Try a few gear combinations on the lower slopes and settle on one you can turn for an hour; standing on the pedals burns you out early on a climb this long.
• Lock the suspension going up, open it coming down, as one rider’s account of the climb recommends: it saves effort on the ascent and helps braking on the descent.
• Respect the blind bends. The same account describes a near-miss on a blind bend close to Mussoorie, when riders turned across the road and an SUV came the other way. Never U-turn on a bend.
• Plan the descent. Coming down 1,400 m of hairpins is harder on brakes and hands than the climb is on legs. Check brake pads before you start, and stop to rest your hands.
• Carry tools. Shops are few once you leave Rajpur; the rider in that account broke a pedal twice and fixed it himself.

Hill-village climbs east of Dehradun: Dawara, Rikhauli, Kimadi and Dhaulagiri

Between the flat forest roads and the full Mussoorie climb sit four village climbs that make Dehradun a very good place to train for hilly riding. Dawara Top, 13 km from Raipur Chowk with 443 m of climbing, is the short one that local riders do daily, and it ends at a paragliding site above the valley. Rikhauli branches off past Kimadi village after 19 km and 600 m of climbing, with a 10-minute walk up to a Naag Devta temple. Kimadi waterfall is 25 km from the Clock Tower via Garhi Cantt with 909 m of climbing, and Dhaulagiri is the longest, 30 km and 900 m of climbing via Maldevta through Dubra, Dubri and Danda Gaon.

For riders on mountain bikes, the Sulphur Pond route starts after the Maldevta bridge and runs off-road into the Song valley, past sulphur-rich streams, for 21 km. Carry a puncture kit, and avoid it in the monsoon and in the forest-fire season.

Six weekends from Khalanga to Mussoorie

Dehradun’s routes happen to form a ladder, each one a little longer or steeper than the last, which makes it easy to build up to the Mussoorie climb without guessing. This progression assumes you can already ride 20 km on flat roads. Add one short midweek ride and two strength sessions, and move up a rung only when the previous weekend felt comfortable.

When to ride in Dehradun: the monsoon and the hills

India Meteorological Department normals for Dehradun (1991–2020) explain the riding calendar. From October to May, rain stays under 60 mm a month. Then June brings 231 mm, July 622 mm and August 715 mm, with about 20 rainy days in each of the last two. The route guide warns that the Dhaulagiri, Kimadi, Sulphur Pond and Dawara rides are unsafe in the monsoon because of landslides and rockfall.

Cycling events and group rides in Dehradun

Dehradun’s organised cycling is occasional rather than weekly. The Chief Electoral Officer of Uttarakhand ran a 20 km cyclothon in the city on 22 February 2025 to encourage voting. In September 2026 the state tourism department announced plans to revive the Uttarakhand MTB Challenge, last held in 2017: a seven-day race of nearly 700 km from Mukteshwar to the Mussoorie hills of Dehradun district, tentatively set for 14–20 October 2026 with the Cycling Federation of India. Check the tourism department’s announcements for whether it ran and when the next edition is.

For regular company, look to the outdoor operators who run guided rides up to Mussoorie and to the riders you meet on Dawara and the Mussoorie road, which the route guide says local cyclists use for training. There is no city bike-share to fall back on, so you will need your own bicycle or a rental from an operator.

Strength and mobility for Dehradun’s climbs

A long climb like Mussoorie is a strength test as much as an endurance one, and the descent tests your upper back and grip. Two short sessions a week make the difference: split squats and step-ups for the climb, single-leg Romanian deadlifts for the hips, rows and planks for the long descent, and hip-flexor and thoracic mobility to undo hours in the saddle. Our national guide to cycling for weight loss covers the training and the calories in more depth.

Through the wet months, Personal Home Training in Dehradun keeps your legs and core working with a mat and a coach on video. If a crash or a sore knee has kept you off the bike and your physio has cleared you, Rehab & Recovery in Dehradun rebuilds strength carefully. For other ways to train outdoors, see running tracks in Dehradun and treks near Dehradun; to plan food for long rides, use the TDEE calculator. For prices and everything else, see online personal training in Dehradun.