MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Hi All
I'm heading down to Kielder of for a week on Friday. I was planning on taking the MTB.
Does anyone know which of the local trails are open.
I've checked the main forestry page and it shows some stuff like the "Lonesome Pine" trail closed, but I don't know when it was last updated.
Ta
bump for the evening crowd
Have a morning bump as well, because I have the same question
Do they have a facebook page? Often the best source of up to date info.
https://www.forestryengland.uk/kielder-castle/cycling-and-mountain-biking-trails-kielder
I think that might be reasonably accurate based on the fact it has been updated since I went a couple of weeks ago when most was shut. Don't get me started on how long it has been since Arwen!
Bloody Bush itself I think is open but the Lonesome Pine isn't (except top part of trail from Observatory and what they share at the start) so you roll back down miles of fireroad. Best starting from the Matthew's Linn car park if doing that one. You can loop round up a fireroad and repeat Borderline and Final Countdown
Blue Osprey was all open couple of weeks back except Chick Line so you end up with a few miles on the Lakeside way back to the car park
Deadwater was mostly shut when I went, open now but as I rode round fireroads I noticed they had felled the entire top bit where the black splits off ie wiping out Into the Valley which is probably the best bit. Entire top half was closed after Primrose wood ie 3 dog climb etc. No idea if that is open now as the website just says diversions in place which is useless.
Why are they felling this when other areas still shut after 2.5 years? Anyway.....I doubt that has been re-opened yet. They were also working on the bottom of the black Adder Nuff, website says nothing about that but it may be shut still. I saw a comment on FB a while ago which annoyed me going on about entitled mountain bikers demanding trails be open. As you have to pay to park there and most are going specifically to ride the advertised trails, I think 2.5 years is sufficient time for them to be open and there is no entitlement at all....
If you are not to far away it's probably OK to go to especially if you don't mind extending with some of the lake riding. When you get near the finish of the red at Woodstock, take a left then another left and you can climb back up to repeat the last few bits.
Anyway, I hope it all re-opens eventually. Whilst the trails have never been amazing, I still like the place. Nice and quiet, the ride over to Newcastleton (think this is shut and most of the trails there!) is nice and scenic as well
Thanks for that, doesn't sound all that promising.
I'll be staying at the Hoseasons place at Leaplish so its not a long trip to check out what's there. I'll be taking the bikes anyway for some family rides round / along the lake anyway.
If heading out by yourself and fit enough you could just ride from there to check out Bloody Bush or Deadwater from the castle.
The lakeside way is nice, ~27 miles and 2100ft so bear that in mind. Might need to do an out and back depending on the rest of your family as there is obviously no short cut back 😀 (well there is one bit you can cut off a mile or two near the start but that's it)
You can go over the old viaduct at the NW end nearest the castle, just before that if heading anticlockwise you can see some of the bits of railway embankment before it was all flooded. On the south shore there are a couple of bits of the old road as well which just disappear into the lake
Would avoid personally, there are a lot of closures and the diversion signage is poor, we ended up pretty frustrated last November.