Grizedale Mountain Bike Centre
https://d145mbeh1pcb1.cloudfront.net/media/reviews/photos/thumbnail/280x280s/4c/33/dd/1350_user641p1050707_1261856801.jpg
Hot
Written by stumpy_dan
December 26, 2009
Grizedale Forest Park mountain bike centre in the Lake District has a range of waymarked and graded mtb trails. The most famous is the red graded North Face trail but there are also a selection of other red as well as blue trails and a sweet short new black downhill run to boot.
The North Face (Red)
- The North Face mountain bike trail is 10 miles (16km) long and is graded red. It starts from the visitors centre and has nine sections of singletrack trail on the west side of Grizedale Forest. It has rocks sections, tough climbs, tricky technical descents, slabs, berms, drop offs, large rocks and shore as well as loads of great singletrack.
The Black Downhill.
- The optional black downhill section has only been around since early 2012 and is a 1km purpose built downhill trail. It has a smooth ride with tight corners, berms, drop offs, tabletops and some rocky sections.
Hawkshead Moor (Red)
- The Hawkeshead Moor trail starts at Grizedale Visitor Centre. It is a red grade covering 10.5 (17km) miles and can take up to 2.5 hours to complete so it's a demanding course. It overlooks Coniston Water and you ride mostly through a woodland setting.
Silurian Way (Red)
- The Silurian Way trail starts at Grizedale Visitor Centre. It is a red graded long distance route covering 14 miles (22km) and can take up to 3.5 hours to complete. The trail covers both sides of the valley and is quite hilly.
Goosey Foot Tarn -(Blue)
- The Goosey Foot Tarn blue trail starts at Moor Top car park. It is a short blast of a trail and is only 2 miles (3.2km) long.
Grizedale Tarn (Blue)
- The Grizedale Tarn blue trail is a moderate ride and starts at the Bogle Crag rar park. It is 4.5 miles (7km) long and takes about 1.5 hours. It passes through scenic woodland settings around Bogle Crag.
Moor Top (Blue)
- The Moor Top trail starts at Grizedale Visitor Centre. It is 7 miles (11km) and takes about 1.5 hours to ride. The ride takes in ancient oak woodlands on the lower slopes of the valley.
Natural Trails
- Grizedale has a fantastic network of bridleways and forest roads. If you’d like to explore more, trail maps are available from the visitor centre and the bike shop team can suggest routes to try.
Closest Bike Shop
- On site is a bike shop and cycle hire at Grizedale Mountain Bikes on 01229 860369
Share and Review
- If you have already or do get to ride these mountain bike trails at Grizedale Forest Park then why not share your experiences with us with a short review.
Trails
Trail Grades
Type of Trail(s)
Facilities
Type of Centre/Base
Trail Distance(s)
Website
Location
Trail Centre or Base
Country
County/State
Address
Grizedale Forest Park, Esthwaite Water and Cursey Beck, Coniston, Cumbria, LA22 0QJ
Directions
From Ambleside head for Coniston, you’ll reach a small one way section by a rugby club, Keep in left hand lane then bear left onto the A593, signposted Coniston, Hawkshead. In about a minute or so you’ll turn left onto the B5286, signposted Hawkshead. Follow this road until you pass the village and come to a junction. Grizedale is signposted at this junction. Turn right, you’ll pass a school and come to another signpost. Turn right and follow the road until you arrive at the visitor centre. From the A591 Barrow Road you’ll find a sign at Haverthwaite leading you through country lanes to the visitor centre.
Sat Nav Co-ordinates
LA22 0QJ
User reviews
Average user rating from: 1 user(s)
The red trail needs some serious maintenance and some extensions to the singletrack to bring it up to date and to make sure people leave with a smile on their face, not feeling cheated (especially with the parking at nearly £7).
| Overall rating | 2.1 | |
| Grin Factor | 1.5 | |
| Trail Variety | 2.0 | |
| Skills Development | 2.0 | |
| Trail Quality | 2.0 | |
| Facilities | 4.0 |
Reviewed by
Ralph
December 15, 2012
Last updated: December 15, 2012
Last updated: December 15, 2012
Red route - leaves a lot to be desired
The red trail needs some serious maintenance and some extensions to the singletrack to bring it up to date and to make sure people leave with a smile on their face, not feeling cheated (especially with the parking at nearly £7).
User Review
Good Points
I have read that there is a lot of other singletrack in the woods here, and there is also the new 1km black section, which I didn't get to try as I was with one of my friends who is a beginner and wasn't keen! So there is more riding than just the red trail which I am about to tell you is not great (in my opinion). There were a few short sections on the red trail tat were fun but they were overshadowed by the wealth of negative points (listed below).
Bad Points
So, for a start, probably half of this 10m route was on fire roads, even some descents! This left us as a group wondering when the singletrack was going to start, then being surprised as we kept descending and didn't find any. It was wet when we visited, but not raining, and the trails were full of puddles (which could easily be sorted with better drainage and some basic maintenance). There were only short sections of singletrack and none of them were particularly fun. There were a fair few boardwalk sections to get over boggy areas, which isn't too bad in itself but some of these were incredibly slippery, and even had broken slats. Me and my friend both fell off on the same section of boardwalk at quite high speeds as they were on one of the faster sections of the trail. Where some of the boardwalk sections have been removed, they have been replaced by rows of large rocks which you have to ride over, which to be honest isn't great fun either as you cant carry any speed. Overall we left feeling almost like we had wasted a day of our trip to the lakes and missed out on riding some of the better trails in the area.
Would you recommend?
No
Was this review helpful to you?
Powered by JReviews