Hi anyone ride Cranborne chase / Shaftesbury area! Any routes? Topology looks hopeful. I have walked around the area once in the winter and it was clearly not a lace to ride sometimes in the winter but maybe ok in the summer?

Dorset Rough Riders do a ride from Oakford Fitzpane each autumn. They normally publish the previous years GPX files, but as I don’t have the tech I don’t have a link for you. Hopefully it is somewhere on their website or facebook page.

Just realised they also do a ride in a similar area over the x-mas/New-Year period which might also be of interest

Thanks I will try to find the route.

I did this loop this year which was okayish – it was inspired from the DRRT – I extended a bit on the east to add some singletrack in the wood but nothing too fancy.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2380109677

However I discovered some cheeky stuffs in the Shillingstone Hill area. Depends what you like, you might want to explore a bit more.

Thanks Gilles. I like a mix to be honest unless I can get a real exposed mountain / Moreland ride, which obviously I will not get in Dorset :(. Dam I wish I could move.

Try as you might you will not find any mountains in Dorset, but there are some hills leaving to cliffs overlooking the sea so exposure is possible 😉

There is obviously there lots of heathland and plenty of forest as well so the mix is there…. Try looking for the DRR Jurassic GPX files as well as that has 3-4000 feet of climbing (depending on the year), and a nice mix of single track, double track, heathland, views etc

Puddletown and <ahref=”http://www.okefordhillbikepark.co.uk”>http://www.okefordhillbikepark.co.uk (plus other smaller unofficial spots) are also there if you want to defeat gravity….

I’m north of Shaftesbury and there isn’t too much here that I’ve found. My road bike gets ridden more than my mountain bike.

I’m on the Northern edge of the chase and it’s epic gravel riding not MTB near me (Nadder Valley).
Grovely Wood is good fun in places though. Vernditch has potential.

I’ve seen Trailforks entries near Ashmore but yet to sample them.

Puddletown Forest and Wareham Forest plus Purbecks are my preferred rides.

Thanks. I am aware it’s not Exmoor, but I thought Shaftesbury looked like topology as good as the perbecks which I like bit am bord of so was hoping for so.e fresh routes.