What’s it like? I’m yet to give it a go and was thinking of going next week some time. How does it ride in the wet and are the descents worth the climbs? Or if I was over in that area anyway would I be better off just doing a long mynd ride instead?

edit – its the waymarked FC trail centre one I’m on about, not any “natural” trails I’d have to bugger about with a map and compass to find.

I’d say one of the best xc loops around with a nice mix of riding and holds up pretty well in the wet. I’d say more natural and entertaining than your average trail centre but does have a few built sections.

Very little gradient lost on fire roads, fun descents (mostly fast and flowing), one big (ish) climb. Also the bonus of a selection of downhill tracks to play on when you’re done!

I enjoyed it, though where the DH cross over bit is, it was a friken mess! Only done it the once, but due to the cover & exposed roots I’d suggest it works better in the dry. That said it is a brilliant little route, so fair play to Pearce cycles (& co) for getting it built

he seemed to like it

I live relatively local to it, and have to say it’s bit of a mare to get to, especially when I have to pass the Wyre forest (great riding). Given your choices, I’d be more tempted by the Mynd.

I think its ace.

The first big climb is pretty tough, but you are rewarded. The DH sections there are great fun – you can also cut off to ride offical DH tracks fairly easily.

It rides pretty well in the wet – we went a few weeks ago and it was grim but the trails held up well. Its pretty rooty so can get a bit slippy in the wet.

Eastridge isn’t far either but having ridden that in the rain, I wouldn’t rush back if the weather was going to be suspect.

I’ve done Long Mynd too, and given the forecast for the weekend, I’d pick Hopton because its in the trees.

It’s great fun!
The climbs are fairly steep, but the downhills are awesome, as are the views.
It suffers a bit in the wet I hear, ( it was bone dry when I rode it) but then it is pretty much unsurfaced. That’s what makes it good though. It has a natural rooty feel, a world away from Llandegla etc.
Well worth a visit.

Cool cheers sounds alright then! I’ve done the Hopton dh stuff before and really enjoyed it. What do you mean by a bugger to get to? Do you park in the same field as you would for a pearce uplift day there?

I’ll be going on Tuesday rather than the weekend so will wait and see what the forecast says, can’t be arsed driving 1-2hrs to ride in a slippy rooty mess!

I presume that the bugger to get to is just referring to Hopton in general. You park at the top of the hill, instead of the bottom. It’s basically the same to get to but you go up the road a bit further through Hopton before turning.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Hopton+Castle/@52.3940653,-2.9547445,958m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x487016d9275e3bb1:0x6629a6baad90bb62

That crossroad of fireroady tracks.

The parking is up a track in the middle of nowhere – it’s not that bad to get to.

It’s also not that bad in the wet – I thought the roots were going to be lethal when we went, but there was still plenty of grip to be had. Eastridge seemed to suffer in the wet much more and was grim. Properly grim.

Rode it last weekend for the first time – really impressed with it actually. Only criticism is that it seemed a bit short. Much more natural feeling than a lot of swoopy bmx tracks you get these days. There was one longish climb about 1/3 in. Descents definitely worth it. As others have said, you’ve got the DH tracks to mess about with as well, and it looks like there’s a load of off piste if you have time to explore or meet a local. Also it was pretty quiet for a sunny Saturday which I liked – no shop / cafe / go ape etc. No idea about anything else in the area though – I was visiting from Cambridge. Would like to try Long Mynd some time if I find myself back in those parts.

What do you mean by a bugger to get to?

as in I live near Kiddy and it still took an hour to get to it, admittedly I wasn’t driving and we were in a camper

It is a bugger to get to for sure. We come from Warwick way and it takes about 2 hours.
Great place though. We pretty much ride the dh tracks now and little offshoots and then pedal back up the fireroad and singletrack.
Lots to do there and I suspect lots of stuff to discover too.

We usually park in the bottom field where the Pearce uplift parking is. Purely because you can then end on a nice full down. The downhill from the top car park is wicked though.

Quarry descent

Foliage can get a little tight…

Drop on one of the DH tracks

as in I live near Kiddy and it still took an hour to get to it, admittedly I wasn’t driving and we were in a camper

But Kiddy is a pain to get to and from and I’m not even that far! I was amazed how long it took me to get to Ribbesford.

I love the fact that its quiet and can’t wait to get back up these this summer.

..you don’t need to tell me but otherwise it a lovely part of the world, though I can’t see Hopton is easy to get to from anywhere else either, and (in my case) it’s just hard to drive past the wyre when the forest is so much fun.

Hmm I’m coming from Northants, I dont remember the dh being hard to get to before other than it being down a weird lane or something.

I was just trying to say the journey is a bit of shit, but if you know what to expect then don’t worry about it 😀
Have fun