Am heading off to Dalby with a bunch of guys in a couple of months time. First tie biking in that neck of the woods. Been on the website and most of the reviews of the red loop seem pretty scathing. Black (world cup?) loop looks interesting but only three reviews and no real info. My riding level is ok, good enough to get round most blacks/Peaks etc, if at times a bit gingerly. Would welcome any thoughts/advice anyone has about Dalby and whether there are any good trails that are off the beaten track, so to speak. Thanks in advance 🙂

I have visited Dalby trail centre twice in three years, both times I found myself bored as I counted off the route markers. I have kept the trail map you can buy in the centre and have written on it in case there is a next time. My suggestion is to park at the Visitor Centre and ride along the Forest Drive to Dixons Hollow, which is where the black route is. This will warm you up nicely and you can start the red route at point 14, which is about where it starts to get more interesting. Failing that buy a North Yorks MTB guide book and check out the fantastic routes on’t moors.

Comparable with Glentress, its not brilliant. But its not got the elevation of Glentress. I think whats there is good and it seems to be getting better with age. Its pretty big for a red so even flat out you’d be looking at ~2 hours without any stops. Taking it easy with rests, a play at Dixons Hollow and a ride around the World Cup and Black stuff (which is easily linked into the red) then you can easily while away 4 hours.

Park at the visitor centre and then riding along the forest drive just shows a complete non-understanding of the trails there. The red between the visitor centre and Dixons Hollow is good. Or, there are options to take parts of the old red if you can find a map or get someone to tell you where it is 😉 Driving to Dalby and riding along the forest drive… Madness!

For the first time, I’d park up near Adderstone/Dixons Hollow. That means you get the World Cup stuff done early in the ride. Then pick up the red all the way to the visitor centre where you can get a bite to eat, then red back to Dixons Hollow.

If you go again then that might be the time to explore a bit as there are some proper gems in Dalby, a lot of which are sublime ‘proper’ hardpack singletrack, usually barely metres away from the stone reinforced motorway that gets a hammering from the weekend warriors!

I was there at the weekend and have had a season pass in previous years. Its not the best trail centre, but as above says, it doesn’t have the altitude of other places. If you ride in the Peaks there is nothing much that will cause you grief. A couple of biggish Dropoffs/Jumps but nothing too bad. I park at Visitor centre and follow red route to Dixon Hollow where you can pick up some of black and meet back with red. Its a place where you need to put in some effort to get something out. Some of the sweeping singletrack is ok. Years ago before it was developed it was alot better as DaveyBoy says. the tracks are still there but if you’re not familiar might be better to stick to well marked red route. Last section back to visitor can be a slog and can be cut up. Overall its ok if thats your thing.

Thanks guys, really appreciate all the advice. Looks like I’ll be taking the short travel FS, or even get my act together and put together the hardtail that I’ve had sitting around for a while. Going to be in the vicinity Friday thru Monday, so will probably do the marked stuff on the Saturday and then explore more on the Sunday. Guys I’m going to be with have been before, but I always like to have an idea myself of what’s involved. Sounds like a lot of pedalling though, need to put a few miles in beforehand if I’m not to get left behind.. 😐

To get the best out of dalby go exploring. there are some fantastic sections in there, away from the sights and limits of the weekend warriors.

Ask in the Dalby Bike Barn for which bits/sections to ride and also some off-piste.

I have never taken anyone there who has come away disappointed. But then again I never follow the posts.

What Shep said. Dalby is fun for a day, expecially if you do the WC XC and can find the more ilicit trails but don’t expect to get full value for money if you are riding big 6″ travel bikes. The surrounding moors do have some great routes on though but again aren’t suited to big bikes.