Wharnecliffe Woods

deadliest

I know quite a few of you reign from the steel city so any links, info, gps routes or local knowledge would be most appreciated on the fabled Wharnecliffe woods, Some of us are taking a trip up there in a few weeks and was just wondering what to expect ? Spend most of our time riding up in the Peaks and Cannock and spent the last bank holiday tackling Afan so technically we are'nt too bad and will have a go at most stuff providing its rollable if need be and not verging on life threatening Will mostly be looking to tackle Red/Black graded XC Style stuff.

I will leave the DH riding to the guys with the big cajonies.

supersonic

There is a myriad of routes and trails! Follow your nose is a good bet, but there is some marked track. There is a website, wharncliffe.info.

Here are some maps:

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp87 ... 5/wmap.jpg

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp87 ... twharn.jpg

The first one is a medium level XC route. Take the path marked in red for a very rocky rollercoaster!

deadliest

Ah SS What a surprise Should have just PM'd you really, Took a look at the Wharnecliffe.info site and it does'nt appear to have been updated since 2007 ?

Are any of the trails signposted ? noticed a 16km trail someone has on .info what do the conditions tend to be like ? Dont fancy having to surf most of the way

supersonic

The new red route has only a bit of it open, and the black is getting qite overgrown. I tend to follow my own routes and spend a lot of time on the north part of the complex as part of a longer loop.

It gets muddy! After a couple of days rain the lower sections get real claggy.

My advice is to try and hook up with a local to show you the best spots.

sniper68

The new short red route is signed but very boggy after rain.We were in there a few weeks back and it was crap.The old Black XC route is no longer marked.The crag top route is good and generally all weather.Some of the DHs are doable for most riders.
2 points
1.Don't go expecting trailcentre type waymarking,Non of the DHs are marked,and a lot of the XC stuff is local knowlege..
2.Make sure its been dry for a couple of weeks(months in places)or it will disappoint.

I took a mate(ratty2k)and was 100% sure he'd love it,(we've ridden extensively in the Peak,the Lakes,Wales and Yorks Dales)....he didn't.Said the DHs were a bit too much and the XC stuff was just too boggy to enjoy.It hadn't rained for over a week and was still a mess.
I live 10 mins away and go probably twice a year,then again we haven't really had dry summers for the last few years.

supersonic

It is all dry to the north at the moment (except after today most probably), been up 3 times in the last month. All the crag top routes are fine, some of the bits in the valley below are ok. It seems the main part of the southern wood is the most boggy.

realnumber 1

supersonic wrote:

The new red route has only a bit of it open, and the black is getting qite overgrown. I tend to follow my own routes and spend a lot of time on the north part of the complex as part of a longer loop.

It gets muddy! After a couple of days rain the lower sections get real claggy.

My advice is to try and hook up with a local to show you the best spots.

Are you offering sometime Super?

I've been meaning to get over sometime soon but am in the same predicament as the OP.
I've also heard rumors before that the car park is a little dodgy for car break ins and the like, is this still the case?

sniper68

realnumber 1 wrote:

I've been meaning to get over sometime soon but am in the same predicament as the OP.
I've also heard rumors before that the car park is a little dodgy for car break ins and the like, is this still the case?

I think this is a one off that's turned into a Chinese whisper.I've not heard of any break ins for the last 4/5 years.I park my car there when i can't be bothered to ride through Greno woods and at weekends the car parks like Blackpool,so there's always someone there and its quite small.