I’m taking the wife to a yarn show in central notts on sunday and looking for loops I can do while she’s at that. I’ll have about 4/5 hours. I’ve never been to Sherwood pines but the listing says it’s just 3 miles! so maybe not.
Is there any decent natural loops within 30/40 mins driving of city centre?
I was considering Ticknall just over the border as I’ve been there before and enjoyed it. I should imagine the offpiste sherwood will be a slop fest?! Is there anything worth exploring out Newark way, looks a bit more rural than the city. The whole county looks a bit flat. A link to a gpx would be ideal. After about 25 miles max.
Thanks.

Sherwood pines is about 7 miles I think for the red route. If we go there we do 2 loops with a coffee break in between. It is pretty fast and not very hilly so depending on fitness will only take you between 45 mind and 1hr 15 mins per lap though.

Can’t help with any other routes I am adraid though as am over Derby way.

Gravel bike up Route 6 takes you to Sherwood Pines.

(If you do this, start on the singletrack to east of Hucknall Rd just after it crosses the B6004.)

A couple of loops of the red and then home?

APF

Belvoir loop starting at Stathern is about 35mins from city centre. It’s about as rural as ya gunna get without off piste guidance around the Pines. 16ish miles, couple o hours, can stop at the “castle” car park for a coffee. There will be some hellish ruts in a couple of places. Nice views from the top of the escarpment. In no way technical but not as flat as a pancake. GPX available but it’s on the usual mapping sites.

Thanks Guys. That loop looks interesting cnud but from some pics online looks it might be overly muddy! I like APF’s plan and maybe take the HT29er rather than the trail bike. That plan would also reduce my driving time.

Sorry, no gpx of routes, but if you’ve got an OS map of the area you can link some bits of woodland together which have some decent trails and are small enough to explore without getting too lost. You can park at either Bestwood Country Park, which has some of the best off piste tracks in the area and also has some gradient, or Burntstump Country Park for more direct access to Sansom Wood, Blidworth Woods, Watchwood, and can make your way to Harlow Wood and Thieves Wood for a cuppa at the Portland College cafe before returning, about a 15 mile loop if you go more or less direct, giving you scope to explore or nip back quickly if you run out of time. The woods are generally sandy so you’ll escape the worst of the slop of more open areas. Wish I was around to show you the best bits but I’m off to the Peak!

Park at Bestwood Country Park by Mill Lakes – you’re just off NCN route 6 there. Bestwood’s got a nice bit of gradient and makes for a fun couple of hours blatting around in the woods. Otherwise follow Route 6 up and out (first couple of miles is suburbs) and through Newstead Abbey, Ravenshead, Blidworth to Sherwood Pines. The red is flat but they’ve done quite well with the limited height gain.

I reckon Bestwood > Pines > Red Route > Bestwood is around 30-35 miles or thereabouts.

Otherwise, central notts to the white peak is about 45-50 minutes drive to, say, Ambergate or Matlock…

Thanks chevy. Where could I park to take about 8 miles off that? Ta

This takes in most of the best bits of woodland North of Notts…

https://www.strava.com/activities/561625204

If you don’t fancy navigating, I would just go to Sherwood Pines. A lap of the red plus blue is probably an hour or so, and then just go exploring or dick about on the jumps.

Jekkyl – it’s about 45 mins to Sherwood Pines. Park there, do 2/3rds of the red – until you see signs for “bike park/downhill” – and do the “downhill” zone. Take a left at the bottom and you’re again on route 6 – nice cross country route up to Clumber Park, stop at the Cafe there and have something to eat, go back to Sherwood Pines the way you came, finish off the red…

About 25 miles all told, 3.5 hours, drive back to town, get smashed 🙂

My Fatbut (Fitbit) measured Sherwood Pines red at about 9 miles. Never sure how accurate it is, but it gets Swinley about right. Took me 55 minutes at moderate pace, so did it again to get a decent session. Its a nice pleasant ride, almost entirely singletrack, and flows well enough that you can enjoy it at whatever pace you prefer. As others say, there are a few other options nearby, but if you just want a blast without having to think, as I did, its good. The “bike park” can make a nice diversion for a bit of fun, though don’t expect BPW standard!

Classic Ride in issue 102 – you can download the GPX from here.
From Burntstump up to Pines and back
http://singletrackworld.com/magarchive/issue-102/

I ended up just driving to the pines and did it twice, can concur with just under 9 miles. I actually really enjoyed it. The trails are clearly not maintained to any great standard and there is lots of worn parts, but there was just the right mix of climbing and descending for me. I was out round Hope on Friday so the climbs were in no way taxing. The 2nd time round was better, warmed up you just fly round, skittering + clattering through the corners, great stuff.