We’re camping in Dorset in the summer, staying at Eweleaze Farm (East of Weymouth).

Slightly inspired by this:

Smuggling Spring – A South Coast Path Smuggling Inspired Adventure

Anyone know the area/know the route, and can give some route advice?

Is there any good MTB? Or am I best bringing the gravel bike?

Cheers.

There is tons around there. It’s bridle way heaven. I work just east of there and ride around there every friday.

Gravel or xc bikes will be fine. There is little in the way of downhill.

Send me a PM and I’ll send a link to my strava account so you can see loads of routes a mile or two to the north east.

Loads of old school mint sauce bridleway bashing. Puddle town for mtb is fun. Short run and some jumps but need to poke around to find it. okeford hill bike park but it’s only really open on weekends and not until 10:00 so even though it’s local to me never made it due to timing.

Nice, cracking campsite.

As above lots of tracks in the Purbecks to Weymouth stretch and mostly doable on a gravel bike though a few sections here and there you might wish you had a bit of suspension.  I’ve got away with 32mm tyres on a steel road bike (Genesis Equilibrium) on dryer days but definitely not ideal.  The XC hardtail is better suited especially when it gets a bit sandy or stony.

Not mine but this Komoot route looks like it’s taking in some of the good bits.  Not the route in that article which is somewhat vague but not too far to get to a starting point from eweleaze.

https://www.komoot.com/smarttour/8473669/zoom

You could always go on the Dorset Grit and Gravel Facebook page for gazillion routes mainly Purbeck orientated.

I live in Broadmayne only a few miles away from Eweleaze Farm (as the crow flies). We are blessed with miles and miles of bridleways in Dorset so you are spoilt for choice. I would ride an MTB to make the most of trails, some can be very lumpy especially if they are dried out after being used by horse riders. Best to get an OS map out and have a look, but I would suggest …

Go west along the South Dorset Ridgeway to Hardy’s monument, drop down into Abbotsbury and come back along the quiet back lanes and a few BW’s into Weymouth

Go East on the Inland Coastal Path to Lulworth via the top of Ringstead Bay and come back on the the path that runs parallel to and just north of the ICP.

North is Puddletown Forest, but you won’t make the best of that unless you ride with one of the locals, none of it is sign posted and you could spend a couple of days just exploring

Wareham Forest has loads of gravel trails

The Purbecks are brilliant, loads of trails, some big climbs and descents