[Closed] Top 5 English Trail Centres - what are yours and why?

QECP is my local and in the dry is the business. Fast n' rooty with just the right amount of features for me. Nowhere near as busy as Swinley either.

at least 3 pages with several posts ending with 'that's why I don't ride trail centres' 😀 and others arguing that any discussion cannot exclude the ones in Wales.

North Lakes
South Lakes
East Lakes
West Lakes
Calderdale

Happy to oblige Jekkyl
😉

Hamsterley is small but perfectly formed. I guess the biggest problem is it doesn't really fill a whole day if your travelling to it specially, but the trails are close together and not dull. Used to be my local and miss it somewhat now.

I used to go to Hamsterley almost weekly but it got a bit samey even with the unmarked trails. They have put some new stuff in recently but I still can't bring myself to go back, especially since they have doubled the parking charge (I know, get a discovery pass etc etc).

I went off trail centres a few years back. Jsut go to the Peak District, it's bettererer.

In England there's not really any genuinely good ones, with the possible exception of Whinlatter, we're really deprived compared to Wales and especially Scotland.

The English ones are fine, but tend not to be anywhere with gradient or have any actually technical or hard trails. Places like Cannock and Sherwood Pines are, to be honest, a bit crap.

Surrey Hills must count too? Compact area full of trails, carpark, bikeshop and pie shop. Just missing signage.

I used to go to Hamsterley almost weekly but it got a bit samey even with the unmarked trails.

My top 5 in no particular order are......

Dalby
Gisburn
Cannock Chase
Sherwood Pines
Grizedale

Never visited any others so that was easy!

Blimey - its good but anywhere would get dull if you went every week.

True but once you've been to one English trail centre you've been to them all. Unless it's Dalby. Dalby is cack.

Second dalby - good day out and a decent length ride.

Blurghh - hate Dalby! Its 40 mins from my parents house and we very rarely go. Its just such a trudge for half of it. And yes, I do ride a lot of natural stuff, so I know a trudge - but at least normally you get a view!

Stainburn. Because it's the one that feels least like a trail centre.

I forgot Stainburn. Stainburn is actually, genuinely very good. Just too short.

Ok then. My top 5 are:

QECP (local)
Lee Quarry (fond memories of the old Brownbacks race series)
Dalby (the length)
Cannock
Swinley (the last 2 have a similar feel imo)

I don't think I've been to any others in England.

In England there's not really any genuinely good ones, with the possible exception of [s]Whinlatter[/s] Gisburn

clearly a typo

I forgot Stainburn. Stainburn is actually, genuinely very good. Just too short.

Places like Cannock and Sherwood Pines are, to be honest, a bit [s]crap[/s] [b] restricted by their natural geography/geology/topography but are perfectly fine if you fancy a change or prefer that kind of riding[/b].

Chopwell, innit.

Two marked trails. One an obviously man made, armoured surface thing, the other totally natural-looking dust-fest in the dry, slop-fest in the wet.

And loads of unofficial trails all over the place ranging from stupidly almost unrideable steep to fast, flowy fun.

And free parking or 30 mins away on the bike.

Hopton is a nice blast.

Only been to 5 in England so not too hard.

1- Gisburn.
2- Whinlatter.
3- Lee Quary.
4- Dalby.
5- Stainburn.

Dalby could easily jump further up if it was brought a bit more up to date.

Eastridge, including the enduro trails.

Gisburn is decent enough with a few really fab sections.

FoD if you count the DH trails.

Whinlatter's OK but a bit "blink and you'll miss it".

Grizedale makes a handy launchpad for the local bridleways and cheeky trails.

Hamsterley.
Guisborough forest - if it still counts.
Whinlatter.
Dalby.
Grizedale.

Not necessarily in that order.

My top 5 by default as I've not been to any others.

Whinlatter - blue is as good as any
Hamsterley - nice mixture of stuff
Cannock - really good use of what's available, also some nice pootly bway stuff
Gisburn - bit weird and lacks flow in places but a good xc blast
Grizedale - NF a bit crap but loads developing around the site (not even counting bways)

Dalby is the most boring place I've ridden a bike. It's like they built it backwards and forgot to put anything fun in it.

1. Stainburn - at number one because it's the best, just wish it could be longer.
2. Grenoside - just good for a fun blast if you're short one time, which I usually am.
3. Gisburn - I like it.
Hamsterley - Have only been a couple of times but it seems good. Mate does the DH there loads but i'm too scared....
Only others i've been to in England are Dalby and Cannonck.
Dalby has good bits but the red is not techy enough to be fun. The blue is better.
Cannock - only been once and did follow the dog (before the 'official' monkey trail was built), was ok I suppose.

Lakes and Peaks win hands down though!!

I like Whinlatter, I like Cannock and think they've done a good job on the Monkey getting in the climbs and descents.

Also enjoying Sherwood Pines red at the moment - its just the right length (10 miles) and level of technicality to make my 6 and 8 years old boys feel like they've done a proper ride and has the benefit that they can clean all the 'climbs' (some of which look pretty big when you're 6 on 20inch wheels)

The Croft Trail (in the woods in front of Nationwide in Swindon 😉 )

I'm amused by how polarising Dalby seems to be compared with the others mentioned here.

Might have to put that one on my list just to see which way I go on it.

I think if Dalby wasn't in the North York Moors, ie, somewhere without stunning natural riding, then folk wouldn't be complaining about a long pedally red in the woods. Take it for what it is, throw in some of the black bits and the more techy bits from the national and world cup xc course and you should have a decent outing.

We used to live in Rosedale and would only go to Dalby if the natural trails were waterlogged or slutch. The red's an old skool ride, think along the lines of The North Face trail in Grizedale. Bikes have moved on but the trail hasn't. From memory some of the black route used to be on the red before they added stuff to the red - it all changed from when we lived there (17 years ago) to when we went back a few years later.

Dalby was fun 20+ years ago when bikes were shit and the trails were mainly made by wildlife.

I love a bit of Hopton me.

[quote=sofaboy73 ]

In England there's not really any genuinely good ones, with the possible exception of Gisburn

Gisburn isn't really very good. Not bad if you live round there and everything else is soaked though, which is what trail centres are particularly great at.

Gisburn's our nearest TC - been twice in the last three(?) years.

"Yak - Member
Surrey Hills must count too? Compact area full of trails, carpark, bikeshop and [b]pie shop[/b]. Just missing signage"

wait...what?...really?...rummages in loft to find dusty maps of strange lands East of the Severn.....

hang on, what's that one near Exeter?

worth a mention, the first blue loop is great fun.

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Haldon, that's it.

There might be other foodstuffs in there too. For balance you could have a pie and a cheese straw. I think that would be all foodgroups covered 🙂

http://www.peaslakevillagestores.com/?page_id=46

Went up Gisburn weekend before last, the trailbuilders have been doing some sterling work and it makes a nice varied loop (or rather figure of eight).

You do need to do a couple of laps and incorporate some of the DH bits and the Hope line to make it worth the long drive in though.

sofaboy73 »
In England there's not really any genuinely good ones, with the possible exception of Gisburn

clearly a typo

Gisburn isn't really very good. Not bad if you live round there and everything else is soaked though, which is what trail centres are particularly great at.

more an indication of the limits of the other English trail centres are rather than thinking gisburn is awesome. more best of a bad bunch with some good sections in it (hope line, down hill trails, home baled etc)

someone above mentioned greno woods, which are great (and my local) but dodn't realy consider them a trail centre per say. rest of the trail centre stuff ive ridden in England just doesn't seem that great. that's not to say there aren't some great built trails eg wharncliffe

Stainburn +1

It's the only English Trail center I've been to that actually offers something unique.

The rest are just inferior copies of Scotish/Welsh ones (either constrained by budget, volunteer time or geography).

By English standards Swinley is quite good, probably because it had funding and a Rowna Sorrel building it so it's essentially a welsh trailcenter, without a significant hill. That said, once through Seagull the second half of the trail is (IMO) as good s you'd find anywhere. In fact if you just cut out Stickler and Seagull it would be more fun, nothing wrong with those two trails, nothing wrong with those two, they just have a different (pedally) character to the rest of it.

There is indeed a lot of good natural riding in England, buckets of it, but for me, personally, my top five purpose built MTB trail centres with some sort of facilities at/nearby would be:

FoD - Can't fault it, bit of everything from man-made trail centre, DH, off-piste, family stuff, skills stuff, great facilities and an uplift. It is definitely one of the best trail centres in England

Tidworth - OMG amazeballs

Flyup417 - Nice cafe, friendly folk, uplift, indoor barns for bad weather, easy to get to for us. It's a work in progress, but we always enjoy our time there. It's not BPW, but I suspect that, with a little more work, and more visitors, it will become one of the top centres

Croft - OK, a tiny loop in Swindon. However, it is a wonderful little gem hidden away next to the M4 - brilliant for a mix of riders/levels/fitness and for skills practice. Not one for a big day out, but certainly one to visit if passing.

Breakheart Quarry - the main line is just a short loop, but there is loads of riding that heads out from the quarry and into Stinchcombe/Nibley, plus there is a nice little self-service block, toilets. It's something a little different and close to family for us so we visit often.

I think I've only ridden 4 so in order

1) FOD
2) Flyup 417
3) Kielder
4) Grizedale

England's a place I drive through to get to Wales, mostly.

I'm sure a lot of trail centers are made better with local knowledge of the off piste stuff.

But if you restrict it to the waymarked trails (and maybe the handicap of car park cost too), what then?

We went to Hamsterley a few weeks back and ride the red loop. First 14km was utterly dull. The rest, which actually had something other than dull fireroad and gentle path riding was really good, but overall it was still underwhelming. If the Red loop just took in two loops of the latter half, it would be ace - the first 14km is pointless on IMO.

Swinley is good for where it is, as is Cannock.

Only rode part of Dalby and it was wet so don't feel I got a decent impression of what it's like.

Whinlatter was fun.

si

local plug:

Parkwood Springs:

[img] [/img]

a trail centre, in a city.

Lady Cannings - as long as you only do each trail once and then spend the rest of your time doing all the fun natural stuff like Blackamoor, Stanage, and cheekies.

England's a place I drive through to get to Wales, mostly

I've set off for Wales, but can't get past the exit for North Lakes....

scc999 - Member

I'm sure a lot of trail centers are made better with local knowledge of the off piste stuff.

But if you restrict it to the waymarked trails (and maybe the handicap of car park cost too), what then?

Yep, I think you've got to stick to just core trails- Innerleithen frinstance is probably the best trail centre in the UK if you include the DH and offpiste, if you include the 4 waymarked DH trails then it's good, but if you just include the red then it's pretty poor.

I've been pondering this all afternoon. I can't think of a single one I'd make the effort to go to other than maybe using the first climb at Grizedale to head up Parkamoor.

Don't know you're born, some of you lot.

We went to Hamsterley a few weeks back and ride the red loop. First 14km was utterly dull. The rest, which actually had something other than dull fireroad and gentle path riding was really good, but overall it was still underwhelming. If the Red loop just took in two loops of the latter half, it would be ace - the first 14km is pointless on IMO.

Yeah, Hamsterley is my local. The proper red is a slog, most locals start on the black and pick up the red half way round whilst mixing in some off piste as well. Local knowledge indeed 🙂

My top 5, quite easy really as not ridden many:

1: whinlatter
2: gisburn
3: hamsterley

99999999: Keilder - never again!!

🙂

edited: whinlatter's south loop swung it

jointhedotz - Member

99999999: Keilder - never again!!

Really? I like the Deadwater trails. Black graded climb mother******! Haven't done the mad boardwalk thing, or the blue that has a sign saying "mbility scooters must be fully charged", and the descent off the viewpoint on deadwater is pish but I've always enjoyed the other bits

Hurstwood, obviously.

Only the one trail, probably a quarter of a mile in total, nowt technical.

It is however bloody good fun and more to the point, five minutes from my door.
🙂

Apart from that, Whinlatter is excellent.

Not been to Hamsterley or Gisburn since they were improved, so can't comment.

The Red at Hopton Woods is well worth a visit passing through.

This thread just shows us how lacking in trail centres England is. We all need to crowdfund and buy some hills.

Really? I like the Deadwater trails. Black graded climb mother******! Haven't done the mad boardwalk thing, or the blue that has a sign saying "mbility scooters must be fully charged", and the descent off the viewpoint on deadwater is pish but I've always enjoyed the other bits

There were bits on the Deadwater that were great, IF we'd left it at that I'd probably have loved it. But then we did Lonesome Pine.....you climb basically forever, all the way up to the woodwork. Then you descend for 37 seconds and back into climbs. For the amount of climbing you do you get basically zero reward.

I really wanted to like it but just couldn't. There are some great bits though.

darrenspink - Member

This thread just shows us how lacking in trail centres England is. We all need to crowdfund and buy some hills.

Stainburn as a trail centre is average but as a place to ride mountain bikes its great. Stick to marked trails and you'll probably be a bit disapointed. Get over other side of the road when dry and there's loads to do. You have to work a bit harder to find the good stuff.If you don't like short steep climbs back up maybe best to give it a miss.

No-one mentioned Hadleigh - not exactly long but i suspect has more technicality in it (certainly per length) than many other 'trail centres'

Whinlatter is the only one I've ridden recently worth travelling any distance to, and even that needs to be combined with the Borrowdale Bash or something else natural for a decent day.

Go to Gisburn once a year at most, even though it's only a short drive away.

Hamsterley is very disappointing unless you rip up the official trail map and mix and match the best bits of red and black.

Did the final descent at Grizedale NF Trail for the first time in a while yesterday. Forgotten just how unsatisfying it was, pointless little climbs to kill your speed and even a gate!

Pretty poorly served in England to be honest FOD is my local, I spend most of my riding time there. In fact I did the 'blue' trail Friday as I needed to do a quick loop. It's pretty boring, sure the last decent is good fun but I would feel fairly shortchanged if I was comparing it to Scottish or Welsh centres. Cannock for me is horrible, couple of nice bits but not worth the amount of chavs in the car park. Swinley is somewhere I won't grace with my presence again. Gisburn was good fun the few times I have been so probably my favourite English centre... luckily in Gloucestershire we have some excellent off piste riding or are a stone throw away from the South Wales centres. Think I would of given up if I only rode English trail centres

Swinley is quite good, probably because it had funding and a Rowna Sorrel building it

Actually, a lot of the Swinley trails were built by volunteers a long time before Mr Sorrel turned up.................

I've not ridden anything south of Cannock chase, but my favourite two are Kielder and whinlatter.

I rode Kielder a few years ago and did the second ever gravity enduro there and thought it was great
Some great descents

I really enjoyed Cannock and Dalby but have only raced there so don't know how much was trail centre and how much wasn't. I think the whole dalby xc course is one of the trail centre loops though?

The only english trail centre I've ridden 'as a trail centre' is QECP. I love it, the red rides very much like an xc race course, lots of ups and downs.

Whinlatter - bit of everything and great views (also one of the best trail centre blues in the UK).

Stainburn - short but totally different to everything else in trail centre terms. Great for sessioning skills.

Hamsterley - ignore the big flat loop bit out the back and the rest is good fun.

Cannock - given the terrain it's a really well thought out and built set of trails. A bit short on tech but big on swoopy fun.

Wakerley - might be very short, pretty flat and not really a fully fledged trail centre, but it is only 15 minutes ride through the woods from my front door...