Thinking of heading up there sometime soon, so I'd be grateful for your thoughts on the following:
- How long to ride? (Averagely fit, social pace)
- What's the best route from the A1 further south? A64 round York looks the most direct but what's traffic like?
- How much does it cost to park?
- Is the café any good or should I bring sandwiches? 😉
A1 and A64 are the way I go.
£7 to park
Cafe pretty good by my standards.
as CHB says but i think parking from October - March is only £4
4hrs if you stop to chat, bit of exploring etc
no idea
£7 in the carpark or free if you're a tightfisted scrounger who isn't willing to pay to use the trails others build and maintain
Can be good, often sells out fairly early
3.5hrs +/- ( waits for racing snakes to say 1hr 30etc, etc...) 🙄
A64 can be a nightmare around the A1237 (York ringroad) but is the most direct.
Free. ( But the Toll road is £7....)
Yes its good...
No, don't bring yer own butties...
or free if you're a tightfisted scrounger who isn't willing to pay to use the trails others build and maintain
season ticket holder here but .......
how much of that £7 goes into trail maintenance?
I'll give you a clue, it's somewhere between -1 & 1
Sorry, forgot to turn the "tounge in cheek" mode on...
Thanks for all the quick and helpful replies folks, much appreciated
it is ace....
worth £7 of anyones
toasted panninis are ace in the cafe
4 hours, have fun.
Also,
"Update 1st February 2010: Please note that the forest is still affected by snow. The following walking trails are open; Pexton Moor and Ellerburn Red and Yellow Trails. Please take extra care as the surface is slushy and could freeze depending on weather conditions. The cycle trails are currently CLOSED due to ice and snow on the trails. The forest drive remains closed past the Visitor Centre . Please call the Visitor Centre on 01751 460295 to check the situation before you set off. Thank you for your patience at this time."
Thanks for that didmatt, was thinking of going up there this weekend - will check nearer the time.
Just to update on this, I went yesterday and although the trails were officially open there was still a hell of a lot of ice about. The fire roads in particular were sheet ice in quite a few places, absolutely impossible to ride on. The singletrack was alright in the first half of the red route, but the second half of the route (over on the East side) was also badly iced in open sections. I wouldn't recommend making a long trip to ride there at the moment.
Was up last night in the fog,it was mint. We got lost all the time, the ice just made it more fun. Got back to the car at 22:30
Cheers MrGreedy - it's a 2 hour drive for us so we've made alternative plans
Cafes at the bottom are OK - a little overpriced, service ain't great, but the food's OK.
As an alternative, aim to get to Dixons Hollow around lunch time and ask someone to point you the way to Jinglby's Tea Room (up the forest drive, which is right as you approach it from Dixons, and follow it round for about 1/2 a mile until you see the sign on the left down a farm track).
Simple, straight forward, but good quality food at 1980s prices. My wife, my little boy and I can eat there (sandwiches, tea, cake) and get change of £8 between us.
Ring on 01751 460 268 to check it's open.
Tea rooms right here
http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=489360&y=489535&z=120&sv=489360,489535&st=4&ar=y&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf&dn=854&ax=489360&ay=489535&lm=0
Jinglby everytime for us! Audreys sanies and cakes are ace!
Just watch the ginger tomcat it will snaffle your sanies!
Word of warning, Don't ride past Jinglby at night unless you like a sprint up the hill away from the dogs.