Thetford Forest

dot1

Hi guys, me and a mate are planning on a pilgrimage to Thetford next weekend and i just wanted to ask you guys af ew things about it.

Does it have onsite parking or anything? How much is it? I'm hoping its not extortion like Bedgebury's £7.50 is!

Secondly, on the forestry comission website, its says the trails arent really waymarked, so how hard is it to navigate around?

Thirdly and lastly, how nuts is the black route? looking on the bike-art site, it says its for the super fit and very experienced. Now, im fairly epxerienced, but am by no means super fit, so is it do-able? I looked at the blue route but it says its suitable for families so i thought it might be a bit tame!

Thanks!

xcman27

hi mate,

do the black, its not hard at all! very flat round that way. The Beast is good but again its not that challenging..you'll be fine..

oh yeah theres plenty of parking down there, when i went it was free. i think!!

BorisSpencer

The hardest part of your day is going to be forking out £6+ for the parking in the FC car park.
The terrain is soft sand and so can be quite energy sapping.

nonnac85

£7 for car parking now - i went the other week. And my 10 yr old cousin can do the red and the black so you should be ok!

Dan67

be ready for lots of mud and sometimes a bit too much mud. Both red and black now have winter diversions in place. Those limit the red to only the first loop not the larger loop but its only voluntary really.
I think the black is somewhere near its full length but missing some really bad muddy sections.
The blue route is sandy fireroad so no point doing that
As for waymarking there is waymarked trails but go for a explore and youll find more offpiste trails to ride which can be awsome is they havent been mullered by recent races which have had torrential rain before hand namely the D2D.

IF you want to see the best of thetford's trails this december we (timber) have some guided rides happening which will (should) take in the best thetford has to offer. I think there is a ride this weekend on saturday 13th . Join the forum and talk to moe about times etc if you wanting to go.
heres the thread for it all

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

Thetford is well worth the visit, but I wouldn't do the red route. apart from swome new interesting north-shore meets BMX style bits it's just muddy singletrack. Black route is more taxing though it's what the Scots would call a green route!!! A fre bombholes and intesesting technical sections break up the ride and make it really interesting.

last time I went it was 7.50 to park there (nooo problems at all getting a spacE) and it's a p&D that takes card so don't worry about taking cash.

bike shop is pretty good, I normally just go for an energy bar but it's good for a bit of bike porn if tha't syour thing.

All in all, thetford is a good day out if you want an easy but interesting trail ride, good to do with mates as you're not flicking between wheezing up steep climbs and gushing downhills... Thetford is Thetford. No trail like it in the UK.

dot1

cheers guys! the black run it is then! how long does a loop of the black take? bearing in mind im not that quick up the hills and we do stop for a breather every now and then and to refuel! i'm used to the mud, i went Bedgebury last weekend and the mud was ridiculous. Quite a few bits were unrideable, and i got caught out on a few puddles that were deeper than i thought! aslong as it isnt TOO muddy, like bedgebury, as that took quite a bit of the fun out of it. and of course, takes a lot longer to clean the bike! Going to Cannock Chase the day before Thetford, so i'm hoping its not too muddy up there either or ill be up all hours degreasing the gears!

BigJimmyB

Park in the bay at the bottom of Fireroad 11, then come up the Fireroad and do a right, you should pick the trail up (think it's the red).

Or pay £6-7. It's all pretty well waymarked. But flat and (at this time of year) muddy.

Not the most challenging ride ever, but good fun.

BJB

BeardedDave

If you don't want to pay the parking fee, park at Brandon Country Park, it's free - it's where most of the regular local riders park. You just need to cross the road and follow the signs to get to High Lodge (all on fireroad), to pick up the red or black routes. If you do park at Brandon Country Park and are feeling brave, explore that side of the road. There's plenty of unsignposted singletrack from there which, in my opinion, is better than most of the black and red routes and is generally quite a bit drier.

I would offer to show you round as I'm there most weekends but it's my GF's work christmas party on friday night and I doubt I'll be in any state to ride a bike on Saturday!

mudsucker

I also usually park at the Mayday Bird Hide in Brandon which is free and will take you straight onto the black/red route.

DabanannaDude

Thetford is shite!!!!!!!!! Well, it's not that bad but it's to bleedin flat and easy and the black is about as easy as most blue routes. Probably the main reason I thought it was that bad is because I live a 15 minute drive from glentress and am used to the brilliant trails there. Loads of folk say "the beast" section is hard, but its a piece of pish! Still probably the funnest section though.

carbonfiend

what is with people who think MTB riding is all about scaling some god forsaken lost in time jurassic park with boulders the size of houses and drop offs like an olympic diving board. Thetford is awesome - its not the Alps or Arfan etc but is less than half an hour from civilisation very fast and drains so so well. If really wanna experience Thetford at its best and see how challenging it can be then I strong suggest taking part in any number of winter enduro races there which this year will at long last include a summer series BTW try doing 12hrs in the bloody dark round there and see how it easy it is then.

Dan67

Thetford aint shit its just a different experience. You have to pedal everywhere no freewheeling anywhere so physically you could say its slightly more draining. If you find it too easy try going faster then its harder.

milkywhite

DabanannaDude wrote:

Thetford is shite!!!!!!!!! Well, it's not that bad but it's to bleedin flat and easy and the black is about as easy as most blue routes. Probably the main reason I thought it was that bad is because I live a 15 minute drive from glentress and am used to the brilliant trails there. Loads of folk say "the beast" section is hard, but its a piece of pish! Still probably the funnest section though.

Yes it's flat...but what other choice do we have? Considering the terrain at our disposal it's not bad at all. It lacks obstacles, drop offs, rocky sections etc, but it evolved semi naturally as a result of MX enduros. It's not man made like Glectress is!!!

Timber are hand building decent new sections with some more interesting trail features, but this takes time and money.

I don't remember anyone saying the beast was hard (don't quote me on that), just that it was the fastest/best section. Cos its not hard doesn't mean you can't crash on it. I tore my collarbone off my shoulder on it last year.

For the record I find the alternative descent next to the beast more fun (right turn on to the singletrack just before you enter the beast). Faster, more flowing. Nice sweeping corners.

littleandy0410

milkywhite wrote:

For the record I find the alternative descent next to the beast more fun (right turn on to the singletrack just before you enter the beast). Faster, more flowing. Nice sweeping corners.

And the trees don't jump out in front of you, either!

henryfuller

Its annoying how people complain about how you have to pay a parking fee to have a day on the trails. But all this money is ploughed into organisations like TIMBER, who are doing an awsome job at generating new trails! If we did'nt pay it would'nt be there, so you got to put what in what your getting out which is bloody awsome in it's own way.

Dan67

We get a very small percentage of the carparking stuff. Last year Highlodge actually made a loss belive it or not. The Fc have about 4 years to turn it around or the high lodge site gets sold off to a private business (or so I believe). So there is no way near as much money as you are making out to be had. The Fc appears to have put no money into properly maintaining trails since they opened they have just rerouted them.

Now some good news if you hadnt heard the FC have comitted themselves to spending £20000 (2.5km) of trail on the red which contactors are going to build themselves and this should happen about February time. Also we have funding to do a link section Between high lodge and Brandon

Now we need everyone who rides any of the trails to join timber (only for £5 a year) to help out on build days and o try to put some weight beind our argumentsd with the fc and gaining funding. Pop along to the forum if you still wonder why you should join someone else with mostlilkey eplain it better than me

mudsucker

For the record I find the alternative descent next to the beast more fun (right turn on to the singletrack just before you enter the beast). Faster, more flowing. Nice sweeping corners.

was at thetford yesterday and found this little route by accident. pleased i did!

endurojcb

Nothing wrong with paying a bit for the privelage of riding trails. I went to Penmachno not too long ago. It's free to ride there, but they have a donations box to help maintain the trail. My friends and I happily put a tenner in each! It was worth EVERY penny!!!

Thetford is quality for what it is! Believe it or not Norfolk is quite a flat area of the country, so we have to make do with flowing singletrack rather than fast nail biting downhill tracks!

The red and black runs can be done one after the other without stopping in sub 1 hr 15 mins easily. It's more of a finess trail center with leg power and endurance in mind rather than an adrenaline trail center. Having said that, the adrenaline flows quite nicely when you're nailing the berms at top speed with the trees wizzing past a few mm from your head! One wrong move and you'll slam into so lovley conifers! I often leave with bruised shoulders from barging the trees. Not had an off as yet tho touch wood (not conifer wood tho). I'm sure I will at some stage!

I prefer the red run myself (when it's nice and dry in the summer). I find it more flowing than the black and it doesn't have as many sections where the trail bobbles up and down, up and down every metre or 2 which can get a bit irritating on a full susser! The beast on the black run is more of a mildly annoyed kitten really. Very easy to do at speed as long as you fully commit. But it's good for Norfolk. If you want full on downhill stuff, go to Afan, or Fort WIlliam, or the Alps.

TIMBER! You guys are doing a great job!

milkywhite

mudsucker wrote:

For the record I find the alternative descent next to the beast more fun (right turn on to the singletrack just before you enter the beast). Faster, more flowing. Nice sweeping corners.

was at thetford yesterday and found this little route by accident. pleased i did!

In the words of The Hives...Hate to say I told you so.

BorisSpencer

We found that little trail the first time we rode Thetford, we thought it was a neat little return loop to get back to the beginning of the beast. :oops:

littleandy0410

Boris: Maybe it is a return loop, not sure, but you wouldn't want to meet milkywhite coming the other way! He's a big lad and rides like his shorts are on fire!

The best way to repeat is up the firetrack to the right. Turn right out of the beast, then right again up the firetrack/grassy track (wide enough for a car). This comes out at Howies run, so you can play about in that again too.

milkywhite

littleandy0410 wrote:

Boris: Maybe it is a return loop, not sure, but you wouldn't want to meet milkywhite coming the other way! He's a big lad and rides like his shorts are on fire!

The best way to repeat is up the firetrack to the right. Turn right out of the beast, then right again up the firetrack/grassy track (wide enough for a car). This comes out at Howies run, so you can play about in that again too.

Will you stop telling people what a "big lad" I am. i can only assume you're implying that I'm a fat knacker.

Now get back to your chores you speccy fecker!

pots

hi
coming over to bury st edmunds the w/e.is it worth bringing me mbk to ride the trails at thetford forest,or will they be unridable ?
cheers

stylish

stick to the brandon country parc side, its drains better and although it will be wet, it wont be half as bad as the high lodge side.

Marjory Stewart BAxtor

Thetford is funny when it comes to drainage... a lot of people get stressed with the bogs but tbh they're the sort of people who call JJB bikes `downhill dogs` anyway so ignore them. Wet theftord changes the charactor of the trail and makes it fun to ride. Goes without saying that you should be prepeared to get muddy and I'd give your bike a pep talk before you go so she knows what to expect on the trail, but in the right mindset the brown stuff is as good wet as it is dry.

Sort of like chocolate.

stylish

the brandon side was great today, wet/dry and icy, all in the mix, which made for a really good couple of hours, and i wouldnt have it any other way.

pots

thanks for the advice sylish.stuck to the blue route & did 2 hours(3 laps from high lodge).some of the ice was a bit dodgy but i must say its a great trail to just do some endurence riding.all the routes are very well marked.
had a cracking breaky at the cafe/restraurant and i think the place has a lot going for it.something for everyone,young and old !
will def be back in april to give the black trail a go
cheers