I have a half day to fill, next Thursday, and I’ll be between Leeds and Ilkley but I don’t know the area.

Is Stainburn Forest the best place to go ride my MTB?

I’ll have my car so can go elsewhere, what would you recommend in that area?

Thanks 🙂

Stainburn is good fun for a half dayer. Best thing to do is ride the red or the black all the way down then pedal back up the main road.

Stainburn is great for a few hours. It’s not big so you’ll be going up and down a good few times. Lots of loamy trails in the woods along with the man made trails.
Or you could head to Ilkley moor and have a blast on the Moorside near White Wells. There’s also Otley Chevin, but it’ll be pretty muddy.

Depends what you’re expecting, it’s not a Trail Centre with a Café and Toilets. It’s some very good but short trails you can session and practice. Possible worth a careful pootle around to scope things out before you hurl yourself at it as there were some big features last time I was there.

Norwood Edge over the road has some semi-unofficial riding. FC turn a bit of a blind eye as long as you’re not building features or getting in the way of any work that’s going on.

Mostly of the other stuff locally will be bridleway riding.

There’s also a decent little loop just down the hill at Swinsty Reservoir.

then pedal back up the main road

What!!
The climb back up through wierd woods is one of my fave bits.

Stainburn is completely dependant on your skills ability. Its not a blast around a trail centre type place.

I would say you have to be pretty handy on a bike to make it a worth while visit, and its more about sessioning stuff.

The Norwood side will be a boggy mess at the minute.

The climb back up through wierd woods is one of my fave bits.

Yep I thought that too.

Depends if you just want a quick fix. Nidderdale is 15 minutes up the road if you’ve got time for a bigger ride. Between Leeds and Ilkley might bring Otley Chevin/Shipley Glen or the Bingley Bash into play as well if you’re interested.

Staiburn is great. The trails are full on but the reds are what you make them. They can be hard-core but there’s nothing on then that can’t be rolled or avoided. Blacks trails are graded black for a reason. If you do the full red to the bottom you know about it by the end, it makes you work at full pelt. Great fun though.
Other side of the road has loads of great trails as well but as said above, it will be wet!