Any good for a general xc ride? or is it a trail place?

Not sure but I’m off there for my first ride tomorrow so I’ll report back on Sunday/Monday

What’s the difference?

It’s a place you can ride a bike.

I mean is it man made jumps, red/black routes etc OR is it just a forest to ride through?

you can do both

I suppose it’s best described as a trail place, but on the lower loop we have tried to keep the sections we’ve built feeling as “natural” as possible, with a couple of obvious exceptions (the log-ride and the boardwalk / bermy bit towards the end).

The upper loop is a bit different as this is where the special features (e.g. The Slab, Hully Gully) live – you’re highly unlikely to come across something like these on yer average bridleway. 😉

I mean is it man made jumps, red/black routes etc OR is it just a forest to ride through?

There are man-made jumps, but these are in a separate “downhill” area, off the XC route. The XC route has various bits graded blue/red/black, and loops in and out of the wooded areas, while there are plenty of fire-roads as well for just riding around the forest.

There’s a Gisburn Bike Trails Map here.

thank you tony_m for the link. Can you tell me where the downhill bit is ? I have seen footage of some jumps but I didn’t find them when I went to Gisburn.

Are they near enough the car park for it be worth taking my full face lid?

cheers

Can you tell me where the downhill bit is ? I have seen footage of some jumps but I didn’t find them when I went to Gisburn.

Are they near enough the car park for it be worth taking my full face lid?
nosedive, if you’re wanting to play on the downhill / jumpy bits, you’d probably be better off parking at the Dog and Partridge pub in Tosside (RHS of the map).

From there, head into the forest along Bailey Lane (past the sawmill), and keep straight on when you reach the junction with the forest road. Keep going past the first disused quarry where the Red XC route turns off to the right (point 18 on the map) – when you get to the second disused quarry on the map, you should spot a double off to the right of the fireroad, and a drop onto the downhill bit off to the left. Or it might be the third quarry marked on the map, I can never remember, but it’s definitely on that stretch of fireroad… 8)