Mountain Biking

Purpose Built Trails

You’ll find purpose-built mountain bike trails in the superb Dalby Forest, England’s largest trail centre and and home to a round of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross Country World Cup in 2010 and 2011.

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Dalby Forest, North York Moors

Forestry Commission managed woods often provide great sites for beginner cyclists through to advanced mountain bikers. Yorkshire’s premier cycling venue, Dalby Forest, located in the North York Moors National Park, has an award winning visitor centre and an array of world class facilities and trails for cyclists.

Explore over 50 miles of trails, with woodland cycling for a range of abilities. From peaceful routes along Ellerburn Valley to challenging climbs and sweeping singletrack, as well as north shore features, with stunning views across the North York Moors, there is something for all levels of ability. From green routes suitable for people with a modest level of fitness, through to red routes that require a high level of fitness and stamina, to the black route that is only suitable for experienced mountain bikers. Start the green, red and blue routes from Low Dalby. Green, red and black routes can also be started from Dixon’s Hollow car park in the middle of the forest.

Want to improve or test out your freeride and jump skills? Then head to Dixon’s Hollow Pace Bike Park.  For the more technically skilled cyclist, Dixon’s Hollow is a great adventure! A good standard of fitness and very high level of technical skills are needed. Ride the freestyle loop, jump the table tops and test your nerve on the skinnies… Dixon’s Hollow is a partnership between the Forestry Commission, Pace Cycles and SingletrAction – Yorkshire’s trail building club.

Have a go

Access is via the A169 Pickering to Whitby road. Look for brown tourist signs. There is an admission charge of £7 per car, different rates apply for other vehicles. An excellent value season ticket is available.

You’ll need a mountain bike in good working order, suitable outdoor clothing and we recommend a cycle helmet. Bike a bit muddy? Gone Mountain Biking and Big Bear Bikes offer guided rides in the area, taking you straight to the best trails. 

If you like Dalby Forest… you’ll love these trails too.

Guisborough Woods, North York Moors: good for beginners, there’s a short blue trail of 4.5 miles to try.

Otley Chevin Forest Park, Otley, West Yorkshire: The Chevin Forest Park has an easily accessible network of bridleways for off-road biking on the Danefield side of The Chevin, east of East Chevin Road, accessed from the Shawfield car parks. A total of 6.5km of bridleways can be combined into a number of circular routes.

Wharncliffe Woods, Grenoside, Nr Sheffield: former Downhill UCI Mountain Bike World champion, Yorkshire’s own Steve ‘Peaty’ Peat, trains here and it’s best known for its highly technical downhill runs; more suitable for intermediate and advanced mountain bikers. 

Stainburn, north of Otley, just into North Yorkshire: A network of super technical trails for real enthusiasts, and a couple of short red trails for more intermediate mountain bikers. Check out the black trail clip below, courtesy of SingltrAction, a totally volunteer run organisation dedicated to making trails happen and who built this, the most technical black graded route in England.

Stainburn Forest Black Trail

Everyone who rides, loves riding new, quality trails but do you realise the amount of volunteer time and effort it takes to develop and maintaining them? SingltrAction exists due to the hard work of a relatively small group of people from many walks of life who are united by a love of trails and the riding that can be had. They are backed up by a slightly larger group of volunteers trail builders who sacrifice riding time to do the organising, raise the money and wield the tools that make dreams become a reality.

Right now they’re holding monthly Volunteer Trail Building Days at: Stainburn Forest, nr Otley and Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Natural Trails

Both the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales are prime mountain biking country. There are over 1,600 km of bridleways, byways and green lanes to explore, all in remote, unspoilt countryside. The Dales are famous for their fast stone based bridleways and limestone plateaus while the Moors have some of best singletrack in England. Gems include Mastilles Lane (between Kilnsey and Malham), Fremington Edge in Swaledale, and around Rosedale on the North York Moors.

Many trails have a great sense of history as well as being great fun to ride. A mixture of Roman roads, monastic highways, mining tracks and drovers roads, it is partly the variety which makes biking around Yorkshire so much fun and so interesting. Most are on gradients that keep you in the saddle rather than off and pushing!

Nidderdale AONB has recently developed two new mountain bike routes, in conjunction with Stif Cycles of Summerbridge. The Brimham Loop is a moderate 11 mile ride that includes off road sections, quiet country roads, and a couple of steep climbs. The route takes in stunning views of Nidderdale and passes by Brimham Rocks. The Brimham Blast is an intense 9 mile ride with spectacular views and challenging uphill and downhill sections on rough bridleways. Download full details of both these routes and more on mountain biking in the Dales.

The Pennine Bridleway is one of the newest and most picturesque National Trails. The first purpose built trail of its kind designed specifically for horse-riders, off-road cyclists and walkers to enjoy, the entire Pennine Bridleway will eventually run for 350 miles (560km) from the High Peak Trail in Derbyshire to Byrness, Northumberland. It follows a mix of old pack horse routes and drove roads, often sensitively refurbished and upgraded, linked with newly created stretches of bridleway.

It’s well signposted and maintained, which means you don’t have to be a serious mountain biker to enjoy some of our finest mountain bike country. Open sections include the 47 mile Mary Towneley Loop, which runs close to Todmorden, and the Settle Loop in the Yorkshire Dales. This 10 mile loop takes in the area’s stunning limestone scenery. There are also many other bridleways in the area which can be used to extend your journey by linking to Malham village and Tarn, and over into Littondale and Wharfedale.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park has always been a favourite destination for British cyclists. It mixes famous scenic landmarks, towns and valleys with hidden geographical gems and rarely visited villages into a perfect recipe for riding. Highlights include Malham Cove and Ribblehead Viaduct. 

If you’re in the Bingley area, you can bike to the Pennine Bridleway along the 17-mile Calder Aire Link route. It’s the first of three key links planned to improve access to the Bridleway and runs from St Ives Estate near Bingley to join the Mary Towneley Loop near Widdop Reservoir in Calderdale on a variety of tracks giving fantastic views. For those travelling by train, Bingley station is only a short cycle away. The route also features a ‘Pegasus’ (bike friendly) crossing of the busy A629 Keighley road.

Download day rides to get a taster of the trail here, including the Settle Loop and Calder Aire Link, or for more information about the whole of the Pennine Bridleway, visit the official website.

The rest of the Pennines are obviously a natural magnet for bikers in search of big adventure. Try Calderdale’s Moors above Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. It’s only for the committed but the stunning scenery is worth the effort.

Mountain Biking at Swinton Bivouac

For those that like an adrenaline rush there’s Swinton’s mountain bike trail in the Druids Woodland. There are 8km of off-road natural trails through the woodland and across surrounding fields, with plenty of options from family friendly gentle green routes to the thrills and spills of a black run. These range from wide, flat tracks to steep downhill descents with jumps and bridges. More info here.

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