Why this ride
From Grandcamp-Maisy it runs 349 km to Grandcamp-Maisy; allow about 6 h 20 of riding. The stops in between: Utah Beach, Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l, Omaha Beach and Gold Beach.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pointe du Hoc and Gold Beach
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 349 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 20
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pointe du Hoc
Pointe du Hoc is a headland of grey cliffs, about thirty metres high, between Omaha and Utah beaches on the Normandy coast, and it is one of the most moving places on the whole D-Day shore. On the morning of 6 June 1944, some two hundred and twenty-five US Army Rangers under Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder came in by landing craft, fired grappling hooks and rope ladders up the cliff, and climbed under fire to take a German battery thought to threaten both beaches. They found the guns had been moved inland, tracked them down and disabled them, then held the position for two days against counterattacks. Fewer than a hundred were still able to fight when they were relieved.
Read the complete Pointe du Hoc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pointe du Hoc is where the day begins. Next is Utah Beach.
2. Utah Beach
Low dunes, a wide grey-gold beach and a sky that seems to go on forever: the westernmost of the D-Day landing beaches looks peaceful today. On 6 June 1944, troops of the US 4th Infantry Division came ashore here, on the eastern coast of the Cotentin peninsula, after paratroopers had dropped inland during the night. A current pushed the first landing craft south of their intended sector, onto a less defended stretch of sand, and Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., walking the beach with a cane, decided to start the war from right there. Casualties at Utah were far lower than at Omaha, a few kilometres to the east.
Read the complete Utah Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Utah Beach comes up about 42 km into the recorded legs. Next is Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l.
3. Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l
On the eastern shore of the Cotentin peninsula, in Normandy, the little port of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue looks out at a low island called Tatihou, and on the island and on the headland of La Hougue stand two stout stone towers designed by Vauban, the military engineer of Louis XIV. They belong to the group of Vauban fortifications that UNESCO inscribed in 2008, and they are among the least known of the twelve sites.
Read the complete Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l. Next is Omaha Beach.
4. Omaha Beach
The coast here is long, shallow and sandy, backed by low bluffs, and on the morning of 6 June 1944 it became one of the most terrible places in the history of the Second World War. Omaha was the code name given to a stretch of beach in the Allied landings in Normandy, assigned to American troops, and it was the hardest of the five beaches: the German defences on the bluffs were strong, the bombardment had missed many positions, and the tide and weather scattered the landing craft. Thousands of men were killed or wounded on the sand and the shingle in the first hours, though by evening the beachhead held.
Read the complete Omaha Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Omaha Beach, about halfway. Next is Gold Beach.
5. Gold Beach
On the morning of 6 June 1944 the British 50th Northumbrian Division came ashore along this low, sandy coast between La Rivière and Arromanches, and almost everything you see from the dunes at Ver-sur-Mer is shaped by that day. Gold Beach was the middle of the five Allied landing zones, with Juno to the east and Omaha to the west, and it is the quietest of them to ride today: a string of small seaside villages, wide flat sands at low tide and a coast road that ambles rather than races.
Read the complete Gold Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gold Beach sits at 123 km, about halfway. Next is back through Omaha Beach.
6. back through Omaha Beach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Omaha Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Omaha Beach comes up about 202 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l.
7. back through Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 276 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l. Next is back through Utah Beach.
8. back through Utah Beach
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Utah Beach write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Utah Beach, late in the day. Next is Pointe du Hoc.
9. Pointe du Hoc
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pointe du Hoc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 349 km.
Leg by leg
Pointe du Hoc to Utah Beach
Pointe du Hoc → Utah Beach is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Utah Beach to Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l
Utah Beach → Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l to Omaha Beach
Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l → Omaha Beach is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Omaha Beach to Gold Beach
Omaha Beach → Gold Beach is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gold Beach to back through Omaha Beach
Gold Beach → back through Omaha Beach is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Omaha Beach to back through Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l
back through Omaha Beach → back through Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l to back through Utah Beach
back through Les tours-observatoires de Tatihou et de l → back through Utah Beach is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Utah Beach to Pointe du Hoc
back through Utah Beach → Pointe du Hoc is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.