Thinking of going camping with Mrs Stevew and young Master Stevew to Kielder next week.

The family trails from the campsite in Kielder village look good and I hope to find some nice natural trails to ride on my own.

I have also downloaded the red / black trail guides from teh website and they look pretty good. Any views?

In the immediate Kielder area there's not much in the way of natural trails due to the ground conditions. Apart from the forest roads you're stuck with the trail-centre routes that have gone in over the last five years or the lakeside way.

Having said that, the lakeside way is a pleasant day out (with cake stops). The Deadwater red route is the best of the new trails, although it's quite hard going for a red due to the eroded sandy/ rocky surface in places. The new blue route is not bad but there's a long forest road climb before you get to the good stuff. I wasn't fussed about the lonesome pine trail.

The cafe at the Castle is worth a visit for the food, especially if the weather's like it is in the NE today.

I would check the midge count!
You wouldn't get me in a tent up there when the midges are out, flippen nightmare!

Not done the lonesome pine bit, but the black descent on the deadwater trail is really good imo – some of the rest is a bit meh. The route that goes right to the radio mast and back down isn't really worth it imo – comes back down a weird sort of fire road with jumps.

It's generally quite rough for a trail centre. It is a nice spot and a pleasant campsite. Family type trails look like they would be nice.