thetford forest

coxy17

hi i am planning a long weekend trip to thetford forest plz can u suggest any trails to do and any place to stay thanks

BeardedDave

There are only two waymarked trails of note in the forest. The red route and the black route. There are green and blue routes but these are just fireroad. Don't expect the red and black grading to mean that they are anything like the red and black standard trails you find elsewhere in the UK. Neither are particularly technical at all, with large parts of the red route having been recently resurfaced with a hard stone surface that offers pretty much no technical challenge at all.

Having said that, there is loads of singletrack that isn't signposted, spread throughout the whole of the forest, which is of a much better standard than the waymarked stuff. It can be pretty tricky to link together if you're not familiar with it, but it's definitely worth exploring, or trying to link up with some locals to get a guided tour.

Don't know what kind of place you're looking to stay in but I guess there are a few B&B's and hotels local. Try looking in Brandon, as that's a fair bit closer than Thetford.

pte1643

You may have already found the info, but here is the official map for Thetford...

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/pdf. ... ke-map.pdf

Been down there myself today, and made-it-up-as-I-went-along, just as BeardedDave says.

The routes are regarded to be slightly "Easier" than the standard grading, but the Full figure of eight Red (at 11miles) is a reasonable workout (gets the old legs and lungs working).

For me (others may disagree) the Black is just a load of linked bumps, tooth-filling loosening bumps with no real "flow".

VWsurfbum

pte1643 wrote:

For me (others may disagree) the Black is just a load of linked bumps, tooth-filling loosening bumps with no real "flow".

Nope i think that sums it up fine!
its the most frustrating place ive ever ridden!

dirk_van_gently

Take a look at these

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=14264

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=14508

The race series continues on Sunday, so there is a course on the Santon Downham side that should be easy enough to follow.

BearedDave is right, some of the newly resurfaced Red route is not too technical, more like a long fast bmx course.