In Windsor tomorrow afternoon with a few hrs spare, have bike with me (on route back from elsewhere), and hear swinley is close by. Now I hear its hard to find the good bits, and it would be best to ride with a local etc but unless one of you care to offer your services, this isn’t an option. It’s rare I get to ride off road these days so don’t want to let this opportunity pass, so can some one at least tell me where to park and which direction to head from there, and any other tips that would help. Thanks folks.

You can park at the Discovery Centre which is the main entrance to the forest. You can get a map which points you in the vague direction of the good bits as well (or at least the section they refer to as the ‘Expert Mountain Biking Area’.

I rode there for the first time on Saturday with a mate, and I’m 100% sure we didn’t find all the best bits. Still, we had a great time just diving in and exploring anyway, and we’ll definitely be back for more.

Take a waterproof.
Google Swinley map and be prepared to do some leg work , they are online , just well hidden .
Yes you really need someone who knows the place to save you having to use the fire roads
Look out for the yellow stone graded tracks , they will be a good starting point .

If you find ‘the wall’ a really steep hill, looks worse than it is, and get to the top of that! On the left is the entrance to deerstalker and a couple of others.

Open Street Map is pretty good for it. The following link shows you the main trails and has them named too. The Look Out (Discovery Centre) is just to the right of the light green box under Nine Mile Ride road (where all the trails converge). Blue lines are the fun bits. I suggest you head out and Surrey Hill to the west and then back along the east side (if that makes sense!)

http://osm.org/go/eusrg9gM-?layers=C

If you find ‘the wall’ a really steep hill, looks worse than it is, and get to the top of that! On the left is the entrance to deerstalker and a couple of others.

Depends which side you come up 😉

Ask people would be my tip. Most other riders can point you in the right direction of trails

http://www.rideswinley.com/

That should help out 🙂

I managed to get lost there again today, but my excuse was that it had changed a lot since i was last there. Can’t say I enjoyed some of the new bits, but that could be down to my rubbish fitness and bike handling!!

IMO it is easy to a bit lost as trails twist and turn and there is no clear “hill” you ride up and down. Not withstanding that take a map and a phone with gps if you have one. As note park in the main car park just past the Coral Roof leisure pool and head towards the centre of the trail area noting its a reasonable pedal on fireroads. Note it’s been raining fairly heavily the last few hours, it will all be ridable and quite a bit is all weather.

Try this map. Got it from a previous thread on here.

Swinley forest map by dave.w.taylor, on Flickr

Park at the Discovery Centre/Lookout as mentioned above, shown as museum on the map, http://www.rideswinley.com is good too. Probably best to head towards the reservoir on your first trip out to pick up some more obvious trails. Planning on going over tomorrow myself but not sure what time yet dependent on others, but what time you thinking of getting there?

Well unless it stops raining take an umbrella.

You lot are awesome – some good tips there. Is it going to be a mud bath? Guessing so…

Yes the weather is filthy here and were as Swinley stands the rain okay it’s 250% better when dry

Mudy but probably not high on the Swinley Bog Index yet. It’s been dry for some time and has been holding up well. Depends how much more rain we get though and Swinley does have a lot of high traffic.

Stick to the hard packed trails and it shouldn’t be so bad. Crowthorne side tends to be more muddy, and the new sections of Stickler need bedding in and turn to glue in the wet. There are signs up from the trail builders asking people to not ride it in the wet at the moment.

Riding with others though is the best way to find the trails. Been riding there for 4 years or so and still find bits I haven’t done before, especially if someone new knows that bit. Loads round Crowthorne side I kind of knew but hadn’t linked it up, but following someone who knows the Gorrick courses the other day made it all link up perfectly. Just got to remember it now!

Check out some of the rides on Bike Radar, MTBB forums amongst others and can hook up with rides. Tend to be weekends though 😉

Try not to crash into me as i’m having a 1:1 lesson with the purple bike hut chap there tomorrow PM…

I thought David Cameron already has a wife. Tips? Don’t shag the bridesmaid!

So, I went to Swinley. Thanks all for the tips. Turned up at Disco centre, bought a map and day licence and headed off in vague direction of ‘expert mountain biking area’, diving off the fire road when anything looked decent, and riding a few of the routes off sureey hill. There is clearly a shed load of decent trails there and I reckon I barely scratched the surface. Don’t think I found any of the new or more developed stuff, but definately got a sniff of some nice fast flowy stuff. Very quiet – I was hoping to ask / follow someone – but didn’t meet another rider the whole time I was out, which probably meant I was far from where the real action is. Held up well considering recent weather. Definately not a wasted afternoon as I enjoyed what I found, and was 10 miles away with bike and a pass for the afternoon anyway so nice to explore somewhere new. All in all look forward to a return visit as what you guys have said / linked to now all makes sense.But hooking up with a local would definately be the best option.