Best routes for a tour of the South?

What would you recommend for a week's riding in the South? Anywhere around the home counties or areas like Hampshire, Berkshire, Sussex, Wiltshire, Devon, Corwall etc.

I'm planning a trip in September. I ride mostly XC on a hardtail, so I'm after great singletrack rather than big downhilly stuff. Normally ride in Scotland.

This could be centred in one place or two, but accommodation would be camping so probably wouldn't want to move everyday.

What do you suggest?

Thanks

Surrey Hills near Dorking have great twisty singletrack. They're extremely popular all year round though so aim for riding there during the week.

You could then work your way westwards via Tunnel hill area, Swinley, the South Downs ways perhaps towards the Mendips.

Chilterns also are worth a visit – plenty of STW posters too.

Bedgebury for trail centre, go explore on the South Downs, Surrey Hills.

Sounds good – any more? What about further West? Exmoor? 🙂

The only area worth contemplating in the south is the south west peninsula, riding on the Quantocks, Exmoor and Dartmoor. The only English riding I've done that beats it is the Lakes.
Epic, top quality riding, superb climate, excellent food, beautiful beaches, stunning places to stay and visit.

Thread closed really.

i really enjoyed the natural riding in the Lakes, the TC I tried wasn't so much to my taste. Don't mean to be forward, but any actual routes or specific areas/locaions TM?

Cheers again

From personal prefence, I'd skip Exmoor and concentrate on the Q's and Dartmoor. I find that the riding is much better on the latter and Exmoor is savagely steep meaning huuuuuuuuge climbs for descents that never quite seem worth the gargantuan effort. Lots of people like it though so it's obviously just a personal thing with me.
The Q's are quite small and it's not too difficult to work out with an OS and any routes that you can get off the internet or from here. Knottie8 is the man with the route maps on here. If you can blag a guide off here even better.
The best of the Dartmoor riding is concentrated in the east of the NP. Issue 45 ( ? check on that ) of Singletrack has the best of Dartmoor's legal riding in it. Again, try to blag a guide off here.

HTH.

Edit, I've actually got those ST routes as MM files along with some other stuff if that helps ?

Thanks – Legal? Is Dartmoor private? I ride anywhere I want up here?? 😯

Appreciate the info TM – thanks. I'll do some of that dangerous artmchair route planning and the MM might come in handy if that's OK – doesn't work with my GPS but m8s GPS might handle it.

Climbs in Scotland can be epic, although not always savagely steep as its been glaciated so more rounded that some river valleys – who else rides Exmoor – what do you make of it?

Thanks – Legal? Is Dartmoor private? I ride anywhere I want up here??

We ride anywhere we want here too but it had to be legal routes only for the mag. I've probably got MM files with cheeky stuff on too.

Well done Sir on venturing South and once you have safely returned, please report back that there is nothing to fear and some great riding. 😉

Another recommendation for the Chilterns, I like Exmoor too but you need to be guided by locals, the Q's and Dartmoor are also recommended. Some nice stuff in the Hampshire Downs as well.

Quite a variety of terrain but would suggest that you will need to check the long-range weather forecast nearer the time. Chilterns/Hampshire Downs are chalk based.

The Ridgeway could be good for a day or two

i think really you need to get locals to show you the best routes if you want the real riding.

Same, i presume, is true of anywhere.

Friston is riddled with good singletrack on the south downs but only if its dry.

Surrey hills are great but you won't find anything great unless you have local knowledge, the same isn't true of the Quantocks in my experience.

Thanks everyone

CG, yeah I thought it was time for a look down in the South. Tend to ride locally (Scotland) or flee to Spain or France but not really planning an overseas trip in 2010 – and I do love English ale 🙂

Various people have said locals tend to know the local trails – no doubt and without that knowledge you can end up missing some of the best stuff. I'll post again once our plans are clearer and see if anyone is free to chum us round or share GPX files. Happy to return the favour if people come N of the border.

So maybe a few days based somewhere round Oxford (Chilterns and surroundings) and then go down to Okehampton or Exeter and get some Dartmoor/Exmoor mud. Sounds like the start of a plan.

Does mean that I miss out all of the Surrey Hills and S Downs though – perhaps a second visit! (Unless of course the old Scottish rumours of people with painted faces and a land so crowded you can't move prove to be true 🙂 )

+1 on Friston, is my local route.

South West road trip – Mendip, Quantock, Exmoor, Dartmoor and home.

I know a fair bit of the Q's and the more obviously good bits of Exmoor but there are riders on here who know them much better than me. Mendip is my home patch so let me know if/when you decided to visit Mendip and I'll see if I can help you out with some guiding (if I have some free-time) or at least some routes.

My 2p. If your typical riding is scottish moorland, hills, etc., for a different style of riding, it would be a shame to miss out on tight pineforest singletrack such as we have in the Hampshire/Berkshire/Surrey convergence, even if just for a day or two. It's different and for that reason difficult to say better or worse than your usual but if you're down here a shame not to see it.

For that reason – Surrey Hills (Peaslake and check in Pedal and Spoke for location of the good stuff), and the army lands around Pirbright/Frimley and Swinley would be worth a visit – Google maps will tell you where and they're such small areas in er, area that you can't get lost, but can easily spend a few hours following tyre tracks and discovering some very nice singletrack.

Oohh yup like that kind of stuff too. It's not all moorland and mountain – there's quite a bit of nice riding in mature conifer woodlands and some excellent stuff which is waymarked but hardly a trail-centre at Drumlanrig, but certainly enjoy that kind of stuff.

I did go to Peaslake etc earlier this year but with a roadie mate who was primarily interested in beasting up the hills on the tarmac. I was on a skinny too, but did notice a fair amount of tempting ST heading off through the rhododendrons.

The purbecks have to be worth a visit, sure theres better 'as in technical' riding in the surrey hills but theres something about the purbecks, some beautiful riding to be done