[Closed] thetford forest - is it worth a trip?

Hi Gooner, High Lodge offers 4 cycle trails of varying difficulty, from the green route (family) through to blue (moderate) (they managed to find a few hills on this one but it's VERY easy riding). Then to the non-walkers ones, the red ((11 miles) this is more like it - man made low berms in fast flowing singletrack plus short bits of North Shore and jumps (all avoidable if you prefer) then finally the black route (10 miles) which has bomb holes, loads of singletrack and is really good fun.
The parking seems dear (£9.60 a day) but at the end of the day you'll think it was worth it. If you intend going back in your week you can get a cheaper ticket anyway. Good cafe and lots of other activities to do.
If you don't fancy that just play in Thetford forest and find the singletrack ! HAVE FUN ! HIGH LODGE PHONE 01842815434. And no - I don't work for them I was just there a couple of weeks back - in the summer week !!

Errrrrrr, honestly, its not worth the effort (especially not a 100 mile round trip) i live 8 miles away and dont bother going. The parking fee is RIDICULOUS, the trails are alright if you can hit them flat out but i wouldnt say they are anything to write home about. Just my opinion.

I went there once.

Thetford's pretty good - best the local area has to offer anyway.
Parking fee can be avoided by parking at Brandon or Brandon Country park and riding in from there.

[b]PJ266[/b] - where do you ride then?

When im home i mostly ride on the road now, occasionally we'll head out into some local woodland, theres some wee bits of singletrack that are a larf. I have the pleasure of being at university in Aberystwyth though, so spend most of my time riding in the Dyfi forest and mid-Wales. Maybe i'm a bit spoilt 😀 to be fair, first time i went to Thetford i did love it, and there are alot of people who very much rate it.

lol

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Seriously, don't rate thetford until you've ridden the Brandon side - the single track that they use for the Summer/Winter series races are awesome.

£9.60 is a joke for parking - go brandon side and avoid the families and park for free. better cafe too

I admit i havent explored the brandon side, any clear ways to find the good stuff or is it a case af exploration??

Thetford is riding lovely at the moment, a little sandy but quite fast. Gets very muddy in the winter and after lots of rain, but still good fun on a singlespeed.

The black is good at the moment, not a true black, its not very technical at all. The red is very good, with the first technical sections in the forest put in by TIMBER, the local trail group. The forestry have been down lots of stone, which is loose in places, but getting better.

There is miles and miles of lovely flowing singletrack but does take some exploring to find. Oh and there are lots of bombholes which are very fun!

Park at Brandon Country Park not High Lodge as it free but can get busy!

Check out the forum at www.timbermtb.org for more info

If you do go, enjoy!

Definitely need to ride the Brandon side. We travel regularly from Cambridge/ St Ives (40 miles each way) and it's definitely worth it. Avoid the black run apart from the Beast, and even then there's two other runs off to the right before the Beast that are well worth it. I think I posted a track on TrailGuru that covers the good bits.

I agree that thetford is the best the local area has to offer, but that doesn't mean its any good.

Guys that have ridden the brandon side, are they Mtb designated tracks? I would like to try them but afraid i will get momentously lost, is there a map of the tracks?

On the Brandon side you simply need to follow your nose. Head down a little trail and see where it takes you ! At the end of the section find the next bit to go down. You can't really get lost as its all in a fairly confined space and you are never far from the signed posted route on that side.

As said above even if you want to ride the waymarked trails - park at Brandon Country Park for free and simply cross over the road and join the tracks.

No idea if anyone has a map but tracks are easy to find, no problems riding on them provided you stay out of the signed posted areas.

Not sure I would drive 50 miles to ride there as I only ever go there when staying in the local area on business - Wednesday night here I come !

They arent designated tracks so to speak. Because if you fall off and injure youself its your on fault you cant go suing the FC because they basically will say they dont know about the trails and werent on their waymarked trails.
The trails on BCP were old motocross enduro so its a case of going for a ride and going down any little off shoot you do or entering a race and finding out about them that way. There doesnt appear to be any maps floating round but its pretty hard to get lost in thetford just remember which side of the road you are and you can head back towards that and then cycle along it back to wherever

Like the above park at Bradon. I only ever go to meet up with friends who live near, other wise I wouldn't bother, and I live about fifty miles away. Like PJ266 said you need to ride flat out.
The black is as technical as an abacus 😆

for all those knocking thetford/brandon. just remeber one thing. we are all talking about one of the flattest parts of the country. you re never going to feel the afects of gravity that much, cos its flat....so yes you will need to be flat out!!??youre the power source after all.

I think I had better stick up for Thetford, here.

A group of us go there generally once a week & admittedly you need to ignore the trail designations, but you can have some great fun there.
Yes it's flat, but the trails that are there, are really flowy & you can get up a fair lick along them. It's also more tiring than you think it will be because there is not really anywhere to coast. You are constantly having to pedal.
Blue and green - best ignored.
Red & black - aren't red or black. But hey ho....what can you do? There's still plenty of decent trails.
The black is worth a crack & can be rattled off in about 40 mins or so. The red was better than it now is. TIMBER have tried to improve the trail by making it more 'all weather'. They have put in some hardpack raised trails through some of it, and to be honest, it's all a bit tame and 'canal towpath' to my mind.

Best thing to do is to park up at Brandon & try and head down some of the singletrack on that side - wear pads if you have them, as it is quite nettley at this time of yr.

Gooner, I can't promise we'l definitely be riding but if you fancy tying up for an evening ride (generally get to the car park at 5:30-ish) & riding for a couple of hours, drop me a mail & I'll try and get a few of us out to show you around. Let us know when you are about.