Whether you’re an experienced hardcore thrasher, or just getting the wheels rolling on your first trails, the Forest of Dean caters for all.
In the heart of Gloucestershire where the forest landscapes are beautiful and vast, lie some of the most exciting mountain bike trails you can imagine. There’s all-mountain adventures, downhill tracks, enduro lines and even family-friendly routes to accommodate any level of rider and family.
Situated just over an hour from Bristol, this mountain bike playground is a definite must-do this year.
The Trails
There’s an extensive network of trails and tracks to discover at the Forest of Dean. If you’ve got the fitness, you could take them all on in an action packed day, or spread them out and even just session one particular favourite.
The Family route is a green grade with 17km of a smoothly surfaced trail which is all traffic free. This trail is perfect for getting those little rippers on their bikes and getting a taste of the mountain bike lifestyle.
The Verderer’s trail is the blue trail at FoD with 11km of winding roller-coasting fun. Shredding through narrow trees, into a wide open forest, before a final rollercoaster descent to the bottom. Recently resurfaced, this trail doesn’t have any big drops, jumps or features which make it a perfect flowy trail for some speed, and for the little ones.
Last year the red Freeminer’s trail received some much needed TLC, with some re-surfacing and extensions onto the previously short 7km route. It now features some twisting berm, roots, rocks… the whole lot really. It’s a great ride for more intermediate riders and a perfect route for stretching out your steed.
In addition to the two trails, the site has 10 hair-raising downhill tracks which are graded by dots: 1, 2, 3. Each of these DH routes takes roughly 3-4 mins, making them short and sweet, but immensely fun. The 1 dot grade is great for the grassroots, and anyone wanting a taste of what DH is really all about.
More and more enduro routes are appearing across the network also with a lot more trail still undiscovered. What’s great about the Forest of Dean is that these trails are maintained by volunteers and passionate bikers.
