Al Ain Cycle Track — Map, Loops & Facts

The loop

Al Ain's cycle track is the emirate's quiet achiever: a 23 km dedicated loop, refreshed in works completed in November 2023, that runs 24/7, costs nothing, and asks for no registration — turn up and ride. Solar lighting covers most of the circuit, though riders report unlit mid-sections on the longer stretches, so run proper lights for night laps. The Abu Dhabi Sports Council stages the Al Ain Cycle Track Classic here, which tells you the surface and layout hold up to race speed. One honesty note about our map: OpenStreetMap has only about 8 km of the loop traced so far, so the embed on this page shows a partial picture while we trace the rest — the full loop is 23 km on the ground.

Getting there

Al Ain sits about 90 minutes from both Dubai and Abu Dhabi city, making the track a legitimate day-trip ride from either. On the track's precise trailhead our sources genuinely disagree — the official Visit Al Ain listing places it at Ghafat Al Shwaihi, while other guides describe a start near Green Mubazzarah at the foot of Jebel Hafeet — so navigate by searching “Al Ain Cycle Track” in your maps app rather than trusting any single written address, and we've flagged the pin for our own field verification. Parking is reported at the track.

Beyond the loop — why riders come to Al Ain

The track is the warm-up; Al Ain's real gift to cyclists is variety no other UAE city matches. Jebel Hafeet rises straight off the city's southern edge: 11.7 km of switchbacked tarmac routinely listed among the world's great road climbs, and the region's only chance to climb for an hour. At the opposite end of the effort scale, the UNESCO World Heritage Al Ain Oasis threads lit, shaded paths beneath 147,000 date palms — 24-hour riding with rentals, and the best family pedal in the country. Add the Al Ain Zoo's 3, 6 and 9 km MTB loops and you have a genuine long-weekend cycling destination: loop day, climb day, recovery spin in the oasis.

What riders should know

Rider knowledge — community consensus (rider reviews, local guides), not official information.

Al Ain runs hotter than the coast in summer but cools faster on winter nights — the inland desert climate rewards dawn starts October through April and makes December mornings genuinely cold-handed. The 23 km loop's unlit mid-sections matter more here than at city tracks: there's little ambient light, so a strong front light is kit, not caution. If Jebel Hafeet is on the plan, ride it early — the road is open to cars and traffic builds with the day; carry all your water as there's nothing on the climb. And treat the Classic's race calendar as a heads-up: on event days the loop belongs to the racers. For flat desert kilometres closer to the capital, Al Wathba is en route back to Abu Dhabi.