Got the afternoon off tomorrow and fancy a trail centre ride so I’m thinking about heading up to hamsterley.
Had a look on google and the trails get mixed reviews. Is the red + black worth an hour drive? Im looking for a 2-3 hour ride with plenty of interesting downhill sections

cheers

James

I’m working up there tomorrow as a volunteer with the forestry.
Probably is worth an hours drive.
Both the red and blacks are linked up with fire roads and there is a brand new red/black section after the Route 66 uphill section which looks pretty good.Plenty to ride but be prepared to do some pedalling uphill.Some sections are not “man made” so if the roots are damp it will keep you on your toes !

I try to go to Hamsterley every time I visit the outlaws. It takes about an hour from their house.

I really enjoy the black, it’s got a variety of singletrack from man made berms, jumps and drops to tricky rooty chutes that are a real challenge to ride quickly in the wet. Route 66 is a challenging technical climb and the fire road climb up to the downhill club hut is a lung buster but good exercise. All this tied in with a few ride-able stream crossings make the black a lot of fun. In 3 hours you’ll get 2-3 laps in of that with a few stops for a bite.

I’ve not done the red as much purely because it has a ridiculously high proportion of dull fire road involved. I’m sure the locals will know how to cut most of this out but there is nothing obvious on the route maps as far as I’m aware. There are some good man made downhill sections though so if you don’t mind a bit of fire road and want a bit of a longer loop then that could be a good option.

All in all a decent little network of trails that’s worth a look if it’s only an hour away.

https://www.strava.com/activities/298028883

That’s the route for the black+red mashup that takes in the best of both. 17km – should take around 90 mins for the loop.

Start on the black and do the climb, Pikes Teeth, river crossing, Root 666 and the new Oddsox descent. That spits you out at the foot of one of the red descents. Turn left then immediately right up a fireroad, then right again at the crossroads and climb past the top of Accelerator and the bottom of Transmission. Take the left turn up a rooty ascent, then turn right at the top, which will take you up to the mast. Do the Transmission, Accelerator and Nitrous descents and arrive at the bottom of the Grove again. From there, take the fireroad to the forest road and turn left at the bridge then immediately right for the long climb up to Section 13. At the bottom of Section 13, follow the black trail again back to the main car park (down Boneshaker, Special K and Brain Freeze).

If you think an hours drive and long but easy climbs are an effort then no, it’s not worth it.

I’ve only done the blue and red routes but it makes for a decent 2 hour loop at plod.

Just go and explore, it’s not that far a drive and it’s somewhere new.

It’s good, about an hour from us and worth the drive I reckon. Like m360 says, just have a ride around.

I was treat to a guided tour on Sat morning and thought it was great. All the off piste is natural rooty goodness .Sounds like we did a similar route to Legolam but climbed above Pikes Teeth first to catch some ST. We did a more natural section after Pikes teeth that may or may not be part of the loop, then beehives. Later or we climbed higher to hit Soul Train before the finale.
It’s a good mix but if you drove that far to just ride the red stuff you’d be dissapointed.

the current trail routes as marked out are useless – you really need to do the black and add the good bits of the red/off piste on to get the most out of it, but it’s pretty hard to describe without actually showing you or following a GPS route. i really like riding there, but if it’s you’re first time and you just rode the red it could put you right off as its mostly fireroad and the black is a bit short. lots of the sections are easy to double back on and do again (ie: transmission>nitrous>accelerator then back up the fire road to blast it again). roots 66 is my favorite bit – proper tech climb with a fast rooty descent, very challenging in the wet. new oddsox bit is ok too, shame they sanitised pikes teeth would have been better to keep the old rooty trail and build the new bmx track next to it

if you can download legolam’s route that would be the best start. if its dry the off piste stuff is definitely worth doing but you will need a local to show you

alternatively if you like tech give descend a call (check facebook) as they have uplifts running on the DH tracks tomorrow – we’re there friday 🙂

The legolam route should do you, you can add on a few off piste bits if you can suss them out on strava or by asking someone when you’re there (beehives maybe) it’s easy to reride the transmission/accelerator /nitrous as well. Also the skills loop is worth a lap or 2.

It’s easily worth an hours drive.

Ps I might be there tomorrow afternoon. Will let you know and will be happy to show you how to link up the black and red loops etc.

I live 5 mins from Hamsterley nowadays, but even in the past I used to drive for 1 hour to ride there. Its good and getting better all the time. I tend to do the black/red mixed route that legolam suggests as you hit all the best descents but the climbing isnt too arduous.

Can’t come out to play tomorrow afternoon unfortunately.

One more bit of critical advice. Cover up, take some weapons grade insect repellent and don’t stop much. The midgies will hunt you down 🙁