Tilgate forest conditions

saddlesaw

i've only just started riding in crawley after moving up from brighton and checked out tilgate forest yesterday as i'd heard its not too bad for a short blast. The place was a state! there were massive ruts on all the fireroad and everywhere was covered with broken down trees because of tree felling. I found a singletrack route that ran next to the m23 which was nice enough but then stopped suddenly and also found some remnants of some north shore ladders but couldnt see much else that was rideable. Does anyone know whether the woods gets fixed up as the summer comes in and if the loggers are going to repair the fireroads as theyre pretty impassable at the moment.

Big Shoes

You were probably at the 'Old' part which was abandoned about 2 years ago when the Forestry Commision gave a section to bikers, go to where the pilons are and head up towards the top ( Parish Lane) and on your right (about 100-200 meters before Parish Lane is where the new sections are

saddlesaw

the ladders that i saw were really near the pylons. I cycled a bit along the road which i believe was parish lane but couldnt see much to ride although i was pretty lost most of the time as it was my first time out there. just off parish lane there were loads of cut logs in stacks in the area i went to then i rode through to the cleared out area where the pylons run through. at the top of the hill there were some broken down ladders on their sides and just further on II found a nice little downhill part that was very soft almost peaty mud and then came out at the bottom of the valley where there was a lot of water and a lot of broken down trees lying around. It felt like something out of a million years BC...

scuba-sal

We went biking over there a few weeks ago and they'd been through the forest and flattened out all the forest road bits so you're now able to ride along them.

There are still areas of heaps of flattened chopped up trees but they will be warn down the more people go over them.

Of course after this rain I expect it will be very boggy.

dubcat

Hi - don't want to hijack the thread but I just bought my first mountain bike and I live in Horley. I was wondering if Tilgate is suitable for a beginner and if so like the OP i was wondering if i could get some guidance on how to get to the right bit.

Cheers,
Dub

Marc Sussex

Dubcat, Tilgate is definately suitable for the beginner, there is a lot of flowing singletrack to ride with a few technical sections but these can be easily avoided. It is just a case of knowing where it all is.

I am still learning the area and have joined a group of guys who know the trails and ride there most Wednesday evenings. Google sussex muddy arse if interested, all friendly people who welcome others to tag along.

dubcat

Marc - Brilliant!! I will check out their site. I'm kinda busy until mid september but assuming they are still riding after that I hope to join a ride some time.
Cheers,
Dub.