Blackdown Hills near Taunton

I used to live in the Blackdowns but that was back before I was into Biking. I ride the Quantocks most of the time now but thought I might head up to the Blackdowns occasionally as my parents still live up that way.

Can anyone share any secret spots? I know of a great descent down opposite the Holman Clavel pub, about a mile and a half of single track fun. Also know the Neroche area quite well and that can be fun.

The is also a Herepath trail up there which has been developed with funding. From my experiences and from what I’ve heard, the trails take ages to dry out as they are pretty much all in the woods, the trails are also a fair way apart which makes route planning hard.

When I was younger I used to go to Culmstock Beacon and that was alright but can’t really remember that now.

Anyone got any spots they’d care to share?

Cheers

When I was younger I used to go to Culmstock Beacon and that was alright but can’t really remember that now.

Me too 🙂 Happy days….

The trails over there seem the hold the water more than the Q’s and quickly turn into a mudfest as far as I remember.

There’s a couple of descents in the orchard portman woods with official looking notices from the Taunton freeriders, but, googling Taunton freeriders doesn’t provide anything really helpful, so I’m not sure how active they are currently?

I’ve been driving through the Blackdown Hills on my way to Sidmouth quite a bit recently, so I’d be interested in what’s down that way too.

Surely there are locals out there who ride them?

I used to go up culmstock beacon now and again when I couldn’t be bothered to drive to the Quantocks but there’s not a lot up there unless I’ve missed it. I’d be interested to know where the one opposite the holman clavel starts as I live quite close to there.

There are bits in and around castle Neroche, and in various other locations along the main ridgeway from what i’ve been told.

The DH/freeridey bits in the Orchard Portman are apparently great when dry, otherwise as Dibbs says, turns to muck in the wet.

Could be worth going up there for a scout around next time you’re in the area, it’s all riding.

Mark –

The downhill opposite the Holman Clavel is a speed fest bit of single track that lasts a good 5 mins. Literally cross the road from the Holman Clavel, down a stoney lane and chuck your bike over the stile, then follow the fire road but branch off to the left when you see another (sometimes overgrown) trail head. Drop down there and follow it all the way down.

Its not very technical but great for speed and good fun, with a couple of gnarley bits and stream crossings. Keep going until you get to the gate at the end, after which you can either follow the track across the field and join a country lane which eventually leads to the Lamb and Flag in Blagdon Hill, or turn around and climb back out/explore.

If you do explore let us know what you find.

I don’t think many people know about the HC descent as it’s not obvious as a MTB route but when I introduced HareyDan to it he loved it too and went back the following week just to do that.

Thanks for the info, I’ll definatly be going up there to give it a go next time I’ve got a spare couple hours 😀

There used to be some DH tracks and jumps hidden away in the woods near the Holman Clavel. built by a george atherton I understood.

i use the herepath around neroche at least once a week there is nothing technical on it but it is a nice loop of about 18 miles nearly all of road. i somtimes use some of it to comute to work from taunton to ilminster when i can get up in time to cycle.

Lots of nice trails along the top of the Blackdowns at and over the Beacon end, also downhills towards Hemyock from Culm Davy. Staple Hill also has some built trails and some hidden stuff. The downhill opposite the pub used to be good but the doubles are probably worn out now.

Good work – I’ll have an explore around the area. Didn’t know there were actual man made downhills in those woods. The one opposite The Holman Clavel is an ancient road for horses and carts I belive but it’s much narrower now, single track.

I live in Hemyock best I do a bit of trail hunting

I have a evening loop hemyock / culmstock / beacon / culm davy and back. nothing exiting but its a ride.

nothing exiting but its a ride somewere else to fall off.

Fixed that for you mate.

😆

yer tosser x

Heard people mention Culm Davey before, saying there is some okay riding there. It’d be good to try and work out a Blackdowns super loop incorporating Neroche, The Herepath, Orchard Portman and the Holman Clavel descent. HareyDan and I are planning on going to see what we can do. On a map it is possible to link it all up but we’ll see.

Culm Davey and Culmstock Beacon are out on a limb a bit, away from the rest do that could be combined with Wellingon Monument and some of the stuff on the spine towards the Merry Harriers.

Watching this thread with interest, as the only rides I have done on the Blackdowns have resulted in my tyres on my SS being too clogged up to rotate! 🙁

Oxy – strictly summer dry riding in the Blackdowns, so I am told. I would strongly advise giving the descent opposite The Holman Clavel a go though, it just makes you smile! Have you found any half decent spots?

i rode orchard portman today and some of the herepath up to staple hill then stoped at otterford lakes for a bite to eat (pic) and then went to the holman clavel desent nearly 30 miles in all. ive just started a 4 day week at work so thought i best make the most of it,

Nice. Can you ride around Otterford? Haven’t been up there for a good few years.

im not sure i didnt ride around there but i have seen a few tyre marks around there in the past. i just stoped on the bridge had a snack and headed back a few people did see me there and didnt seem to mind me being there.

I’m gonna do the Holman Clavel descent tomorrow night as I haven’t been down there in a couple years. I’ll let you know what I think.

dont think you will get up to much speed as it may be a bit muddy after the rain weve had and there was also a couple trees cut down that went all the way across the track. there is also another down hill bit if you carry on towards staple hill but when you get to the crossroads head towards corfe but just for a short distance and then turn left follow that narrow lane going uphill and you will see a style on your left (restricted byway) which leads all the way downhill to a farm lane near pitminster.

Mr Brightside – you are a legend. I have seen that area on the map and wondered if there was anything there. I was thinking when I got up this morning that it’s gonna be too wet. May ride it anyway as I need to put the new frame through it’s paces. I’ll have to try that one you suggested out at some point too.

Mr Brightside – just had another look at the map to see if I could see the downhill you said about and I think I’m thinking of a different one.

If you can, look at Bing maps and pull up the Ordnance Survey layer and zoom in to the area. Am I right in thinking that the one you suggested goes down through Adcombe Woods?

The one I thought looked possible is down through Hawks Moor, it starts higher than the one you suggested (at the junction of the road where you turn left). Ever seen that? It also looks like there is a steep one further down from where you suggested, and that one goes down through Murlinch Wood. I’d be interested to hear your opinions on these?

yep adcombe woods was the one i was thinking of i use to ride down it on my motorbike (when it was a legal route) ive only done it once on my mtb didnt look like anybody else rode it or even walked it for a long time but it was very wet at the btm. ive not heard of hawks moore or murlinch but i will try and get up that way over the weekend to explore a bit more.

I rode down the Holman Clavel descent through Priors Park Wood last night and it’s been ruined! The old single track that went down has been replaced by a muddy wide track, the mud is fairly compact, where they have been doing forestry work so now it’s no fun at all, until you get about a third from the bottom. The last part hasn’t changed and is still nice and quick.

It was very muddy last night though so maybe it will be better when it dries out. Hopefully, over time, the single track will start to emerge again. It’s good for the wood though as they’ve felled some trees and planted more to try and increase the amount of plant life in there.

I’ll try another route next time. Those woods have real potential for some cheeky trails.

i think if i ride it again i will try the right hand fork i did go that way for a short while and it crosses a stream i was wondering if that way would meet up somwhere on adcombe woods ?

Yeah, I think if you take the right hand fork it leads to Hawks Moor which I was saying about. Wehn I was kid it wasn’t possible to ride right through there but, looking at the map, it looks like it does now so I need to explore that too. I see on the map that it crosses a stream. You could eventually get to Adcombe Woods if you went down there but not by using the downhill you previously mentioned.

Let me know how you et on this weekend if you do any exploring. I was chatting to a mate of mind saying how it would be good to build a trail next to where the Holman Clavel descent goes. I reckon there is scope there to do something!

Just thought I put a bit of feedback on here, as HareyDan and another mate of ours went for a Blackdown explore last night.

We started at Orchard Portman and that was pretty good, there are a couple new jumps on the downhills in there.

Then we climbed up the Herepath to Staple Hill which was a long ascent and bit of a slog up hill for a couple of miles. Hard work but nice surface for crusing along.

At the top we broke away from the Herepath and went over to The Holman Clavel, took the forest track opposite and went right at the junction where the other descent goes left. We went over a stream and hooked up with a trail which dropped back towards the left (Hawks Moor).

That was good fun for the first part but then was pretty unridable at the bottom due to the width, boggyness and amount of water down there.

At the bottom we skirted around to Adcombe Woods and there were a couple of good shortish descent in there, but the problem was they didn’t lead anywhere. We ended up hacking our way through the woods for about 30 mins to try and link up with another trail!

I think some of the people I ride with are in that area. The stuff they post on facebook looks awesome, big jumps and drops. I don’t know the area at all but they also mentioned Yettington, not sure how far away that is from Taunton.

Never heard of Yettington, not even sure where it is?! The Orchard Portman stuff is well built etc. Not too much decent natural stuff up on the Blackdowns though. Quantocks are king.

http://www.moredirt.co.uk/trail/United-Kingdom_South-West/Yettington-Freeride/875/

looks like yettington is a fair way from there more towards the devon border i think? ive still not got around to trying the right fork at holman clavel but i will probably just stick to the herepath around that way as its a good 18 mile route with plenty of variety. will probably head to the quontocks tomarow though.

Yettington is woodbury Common, about 7 miles south east of Exeter.

I think I’ll give the Mendips a go next, and I need to try the downhill that Mr Brightside mentioned on the Blackdowns down to Adcombe Woods. Quantocks this Tuesday for an after work evening session!

Been watching this thread with mild interest…

If you divide the Blackdown Hills AONB into four parts, I’ve just got back from surveying all the off-road tracks you can legally* ride a bike on in the NE, NW and SW quadrants (a colleague surveyed the SE quadrant where there’s a denser cluster).

Generally, most of the trails within the AONB are wet/muddy at all but the driest times of the summer. You’d need a long dry spell for most tracks to dry out completely. And some are VERY badly overgrown where they never see any use.

There’s some nicely interesting descents off the northern edge (places like Neroche, Staple Common, Staple Hill, Buckland Wood and Black Down Common). They’re not overly long, and they’re hard to make into a decent loop without miles of tarmac. They’re not particularly steep, but they’ll mostly have one or two nice sections in them. There’s some man-made singletrack on FC land (built by the Taunton Freeriders) in Lime Ridge/Piddle Wood. The Herepath is a pleasant trail you can almost take the family on (it’s flat-ish and well-surfaced in places) but it’s obviously fairly linear.

Aside from the northern wooded edge, the rest of the trails within the AONB boundary are pretty forgettable. It’s an intensely agricultural area (mainly dairy farms) and most of the ‘other’ bridleways are across farmland and/or through farmyards. Expect knee-deep slurry, angry dogs, a bazillion gates (some tied shut), bulls and some electric fences.

So, on the whole, I’d suggest the northern periphery is fine for a couple of hours’ spin, or somewhere to take a newbie.

(* all the Bridleways, Byways, UCRs and ‘Other Public Access’).

i think most of that area is good riding if your local but i wouldnt bother puting the bike in the car to travel there the only reason i ride it as its on my doorstep. if your taking the bike in the car may as well go that bit further and head to the quantocks.