I will be going down to the Hightown/Formby/Southport area in July, does anyone know of any decent mountain bike trails around this area please??

Last time I went to visit my folks over there I took the cross bike and went for a spin along the coast through the dunes. Some quite fun rideable stuff in there. Went for a play in the woods in Formby and again, some good stuff, although not all of it strictly legal…
Not sure I’d take the mountain bike to be honest, nothing there that really warrants it, but there’s some fast ‘n’ fun stuff to be ridden if you have a cross bike to hand.
I do know the location of some dirt jumps mind…

If you just want to go off road and get away from the roads,get on the Cheshire Lines,it’s pretty quiet & loads of wildlife but you do’nt need a “mountain bike” for it.It’s off road, an old railway line, crossbike or rigid is plenty enough.

I live in southport and it’s as flat as Keira Knightley’s chest, Rivington pike is not too far away plus your not that far from North Wales.

I shall be moving to West Lancs next week.

Thanks god I mainly ride on the road..!

what he said flat as can be Formby is an SSSi iirc so please be respectful and dont cycle there
Rivvy – 20 ish miles away is probably nearest for “proper” MTB – it aint the Lakes but it is OK.
e-mail me if you want a guide of rivvy
Llandegla is propably nearest trail centre if you prefer that sort of stuff
perhaps Lee quarry not sure how far that would be from there both 1-11/2 hrs away ish?

Not a lot there MTB wise mate. My folks are also in Formby so I’ve taken the bike out in the pinewoods plenty of times – You can put some good loops together but the trails are very sandy. Probably find some decent jumps for arsing around on in the hillier bits of woodland.

I usually take the cross bike these days – coastal path / Cheshire lines, LL canal, round north Liverpool etc etc.

Sort of a shite area for MTBing really – there’s fifty good places an hour and a half away, but nothing really on the doorstep.

netty there is at least two of us that are willing to ride in Rivvy so if the timing is right we could make it a day out plus I might be able to persuade others? WYT?

liverpool/ southport area is as flat as a pancake. I do most of my riding round llandegla, rivington, north wales. Or you could go upto lee quarry/gisburn forest.

thanks everyone for your feedback, you’ve been really helpful….it really needs to be in the sort of immediate area ish….so probally Rivvy would be the best bet

We have a few night rides to the south and west of the area that we do in the evenings
http://www.thewoollybacks.co.uk/content.php

I’ve a local 3 hour loop taking in a the main points from above and very little road use, it’s hardly testing but good for training as there’s nearly always a strong head wind.

Looks towards Parbold, Billinge for any hills though.

Llandegla is an hour away in the car and the lakes are 90 mins away as are the Peaks and north Wales.

Unfortunately merseyside is on the Cheshire plain and so is pretty shite for Mtb. It’s no coincidence that the area has one of the strongest roadie scenes in the uk. Having said that, your not too far from the lakes, peaks, Wales. Delamere is about 40 mins away and is ok if you stay off the fireroads.

Trans pennine trail from southport to liverpool and onto hull, route 62 of the natioanl cycle network, flat and a bit boring in places, but bikes go free on all merseyrail trainms, the yellow nd silver ones.

The park and ride at southport and the railway station offer cheap bike hire, and the station has free secure parking etc.

ourmaninthenorth – Member
I shall be moving to West Lancs next week.

Thanks god I mainly ride on the road..!

You’ll be fine then!