Swinley Forest?

I have an early meeting near Chobham the second week in January and should be finished around 11:30 so I wondered if it was worth taking a bike and having a spin around Swinley on my back to the M4.

Worth it or not?

I’d say yes. All the other posts after this will list all the things wrong with it. But i enjoyed myself. Lots is just peddling through a wood, which fine by me. In enjoyed the little challenges thrown in along the route

No, go to the meeting early.  Volunteer to take the minutes and to buy everyone at the meeting lunch.

It will be far less painful and more enjoyable

?

If you’ve never been before, give it a whirl. You only regret the rides you didn’t do.

Surely it can’t be worse than Cannock Chase? I stopped off there on Saturday on my way back from Scotland (weather was appalling at GT) and I rode “Follow the Dog” and it was by far the worst trail centre route I have ever ridden – boring with little or no technical sections. There were a lot of diversions so maybe I rode it at a bad time?

If you didn’t like Cannock then I would stay well clear of Swinley.

I rode it a second time thinking it couldn’t be that dull?

I was sadly mistaken

Swinley can vary according to the pace you take it at – if you push a pace from the start to make a loop of it then it is fairly enjoyable and also somewhat mentally challenging 🙂

Same with the old swinley before the trails were remade – nothing particularly technical but a good XC workout.

It’s technicality also varies with the type of bike you have brought with you. If you find it boring then ride it on a gravel bike instead.

Gooner, what kind of riding do you like?

If it’s more gravity orientated or technical decents then it’s not for you, if you like a pedal fest XC type of grueling loop then fill your boots.

Personally I’d rather stay in bed on a Sunday morning if Swinley was the only option

I work not far & ride Swinley when I’m there but don’t have the time to get to the Surrey Hills.

I park at the end of the Kings Ride in Camberley & ride across Barossa to the look out and just ride the best bits for an hour, for that it’s fine.

I prefer the more gravity orientated routes with plenty of technical sections but the less “interesting” are enjoyable to me as I can ride them fast and improve my fitness.

If you like sessioning short downhills, single track and jump lines then the clubhouse trails (as far from the Look Loom Out car park as the marked trails go) are good for 2-3 hours.  Park on the other side (near Bagshot) to get to the fun bits quickest.

If you like XC then the Blue / Red loop is decent, if not particularly technical.

Not sure why Swinley get so many snarky comments, it is what it is, there are lots of other good places to ride within an hour of it, but it offers easily accessible, multi skill level options.

It will be far less painful and more enjoyable

This.

Or drive to the Surrey Hills/Hindhead and ride there.

Personally id forget about Swinley and drive 30 mins from Chobham to Peaslake and go ride the Surrey Hills

Been to Swinley 5-6 times in my life and i dont think ive ever truely enjoyed it, even when 5 of us were on e-mtb’s in Turbo mode blasting around and mucking about

Other option is go ride Deepcut and Tunnel Hill in Frimley Green (park up at Basingstoke Canal by the cafe)

You only regret the rides you don’t do … except for Swinley.

Tedious, flat and boring, and that was with riding it on my Stooge which usually brings a smile to my face. Didn’t help I’d been at Surrey Hills the day before and it was a very poor comparison to that.

And i.dont get me wrong I’m not needing gnar to keep me happy, non-technical flowy singletrack is great. Noodling along taking in the scenery is amazing. Rinse and repeat tight bends through identikit plantation blocks is meh. All just too forced and unnatural feeling.

Well worth it for an  hours ride. Might be quite muddy but still a nice route.

Some will say its tedious but they’re just the lazy ebikers that want 5 star routes all the time that only go downhill and don’t know how to climb.

Yes, you have to pedal but it it a bike trail so what do you expect? (sorry e bikers) pedalling means putting pressure on the cranks for an extended period of time and getting out of breath.

Swinleys a good trail/xc route. I’ve driven 1.5 hours to get there and not disappointed.

I like Swinley. It’s pedally but it’s in the SE so that tends to be the norm… They’ve a few new jumpy bits and many of the routes have had a revamp.

It’s 5 minutes from my house by bike so I’m going to defend it.
it’s great fun for what it is, a selection of quite pedally trails, only a few of which will work if you just roll into them.
I think I’m with mjskme, if you can’t get some enjoyment out of the trails there, you aren’t trying hard enough.
Some people seem to love to hate it – I know people who are far better jumpers (and riders in general) than I am, yet they will decry the swinley trails as dull, when I know for sure they haven’t cleared all the doubles etc on the blue and red.
It isn’t the greatest riding in the world, but it is weatherproof, with waymarked official trails, and easily accessible from the m3, m4 and m25. Seems ideal for the OP wanting a quick solo blast in January following a work trip.

will add though, first half of the blue is closed for logging currently.

Miserable people. I’m going to give you some advice. Never, ever ride Therford if you have an issue with Swinley. You’re likely to be found out in the woods trying to saw through your wrists with a multi tool.

I’d say it’s worth it, if only for the experience so you know what it’s like for future reference.

I’ve always thought to get some enjoyment out of Swinley it needs to be ridden at a decent pace. Be that via XC racer or battery bike it doesn’t matter. Showing up with a trail/enduro sled and bimbling round will be a dull slog for the most part. Despite not much elevation change in the area the route constantly undulates, so it’s fairly hard work at a good lick. Of course at weekends it’s often too busy to hammer it. There are some good trails as well as the basic route.

The place has been infested with puddles (nearly hub deep troughs) the few times I’ve been in recent years. It did appear some drainage work had been done when I was there last though?

From the moment Swinley got surfaced about 12(?) years ago my main issue has been the surface itself. Really odd choice of aggregate for a mountain bike trail because it’s full of little pebbles, which aren’t very grippy in the wet.

From the moment Swinley got surfaced about 12(?) years ago my main issue has been the surface itself. Really odd choice of aggregate for a mountain bike trail because it’s full of little pebbles, which aren’t very grippy in the wet.

Crown Estate rules are that trails have to be surfaced using materials from within the forest hence the use of ‘ginge’.  And you’re right, on the fast parts surfaced it it it’s hard to trust really pushing the front wheel into a corner for fear of it drifting on the stoney surface.

It’s alright for  a quick blast about if you’re passing. It hasn’t got much hill to work with so it’s very much up and down little gradients most of the time. An ideal bike would be something short travel at both ends  that’s an efficient pedaller .

It’s good for an xc style full on blat. It’s not technical nor has much in the way of gradient but if you want to red line your HR & work a trail for speed it’s a lot of fun. Best done on an xc bike – anything else will suck the fun out of it. I’ve had many fun rides at Swinley.

Are Baby Maker and the Labyrinth still useable? Cos I was thinking of taking my beginner rider gf round Swinley, but thought those trails might be tough going for her. It’s not all flat and boring.

If Labyrinth is where I think it is (about 2/3 of the way round the red, with the 6/7 trails that all start in a clearing and bomb down through the woods, one of them being part of the ‘proper’ red trail) then it’s still there and always a group of people up there sessioning the various trails whenever I’ve been there. I really quite enjoy it to be honest! The section that is on the red trail has a few rooty drops (rollable) and slightly rutted/narrow sections but a friend did it on his second ‘proper’ mountain bike ride on a 100m hardtail with no dropper and he only moaned a little bit afterwards.

The only section I don’t really enjoy is the first ~third of the red, we usually do the first section of the Blue then Tank Traps and the new jump line section onto the Red, follow that until right at the end really and do the last ~third of the Blue back to the cafe.

Some really nice swoopy sections on both and enough technical XC type bits to keep it fun for me. If the weather hasn’t been amazing and I just want to get out for a couple of hours I really quite enjoy it, just don’t think it’s going to be like a mini BPW or Surrey Hills. It is what you make it to an extent.

Are Baby Maker and the Labyrinth still useable

Yes – there’s been a lot of work in that area with a couple of fun new lines off the top.

The stuff on the other side of the fire road is unofficial and therefore out of bounds and shouldn’t be ridden. At all. Ever.

go ride Deepcut

I wouldn’t bother with Deepcut, most of the time the army have it fenced off.

IMHO Swinley is great considering the terrain, there aren’t any big hills so you’re always going to be limited as far as downhill sections are concerned. There’s not much in life that’s free and I think its fantastic that there’s this free cycling facility so readily accessible.

MBUK (other magazines are available) recently had details of a ride around Chobham Common but I’d much prefer Swinley.