Where to ride in North East England

thenarrowwizard

Hi guys (and girls)

I've just taken up mountain biking again (along with a few friends) after about 18 years off and was wondering where are the best places to ride around the North East

for our first proper ride last weekend we went to Kielder and did a 14 mile blue run followed by the Deadwater red run.
Had an absolutely brilliant time despite the lack of skill and fitness and we are looking for more of the same if possible

I live about 5 miles from the trails at Chopwell and will be checking those out tomorrow morning

where else should we be riding

Had a look at the Glentress website and it looks amazing but I think it looks a bit serious for us at the minute so maybe will have a trip up there when we have a bit more experience

Cheers
Owen

supersonic

Have a look at Chopwell forest and Hexham.

thenarrowwizard

Had a ride down to Chopwell this morning

Thought the red run was really good though too short
a couple of punctures spoiled the morning though

Where in Hexham is ridable?

stu8975

Ahem...Main place in NE is Hamsterley forest.

thenarrowwizard

Thanks Stu

Will check it out next time I can get the lads together and the cars organised
Have heard a few people complain that there's too much forest road and not enough single track but will reserve judgement until I've ridden there

Owen

Initialised

I took my son (8 years) down the Powerline @Chopwell (was my first time on that run) the other week. There's plenty more if yo just wander round he woods rather then sticking to the trails. For softroading the Red Kite Trail is good and goes through Chpwell. We did the new Blue and Half the Lakeside earlier in he year on a short camping trip to Keilder. Also did a run out to Corbridge a few weeks back or #72, Hexam's not that much further, but it's more road trekking than MTB trails.

Initialised

I did find a nice unofficial track complete with fire-pits etc.. between Chopwell and Consett... \not sure you can make it out on google maps but if you follow the Blaydon-Consett route (#14) you'll find it a mile or so after the Red Kite (Chopwell) turn off and near a campsite on the left if you're heading south. Look out for the sculpted dives and wooden structures.

chemicalali

Yes - Hamsterley is the place in Co Durham. Check out the Hamsterley Trailblazers website http://www.hamsterley-trailblazers.co.uk/ - they run monthly club rides where you get to see some of the unofficial stuff.

Yes - there is fireroad at Hamsterley and there isn't a good map/guide to all of the good bits. If you fancy, give me a PM and I'll show you round.

stabilised

There's a book called 'Beyond Hamsterley' that gives a guide to mtb routes in County Durham. I've seen it for sale in the Tourist Information Centres in Durham and Stanhope and also the visitors centre at Hamsterley.

The C2C route has a decent bit of off-road route that starts in Rookhope (across the road from the Post Office) and climbs up on to the fell and then contours round until you hit the B6278 Stanhope-Edmundbyers road. You can then cross the road and up the track to Parkhead station (with a cafe much frequented by C2C riders). Take the track parallel to the road downhill until you get to the cattle grid at Crawleyside bank where you'll have to rejoin the road down into Stanhope. Then it's road back to Rookhope (either along the A689 to Eastgate and turn right or take the C2C road route which turns right just at the top of the little climb out of Stanhope and takes you on a quiet lane (although with a big hill) back to Rookhope.

Alternatively, if you've got multiple cars and can leave one at each end of the ride, you can turn left at Parkhead and foolw the track across the fell almost all the way to Castleside if you want to go that far. It's not challenging riding, as it's semi-made, but it is lovely scenery on a nice day.

bluehelmet

Pretty much eveywhere is good.

As well as Beyond Hamsterley get Derek Purdys guides to Co Durham and Northumberland - some fantastic routes from easy to full on epics.

Chopwell - go explore. The best bits aren't on the official routes.

Hexham common is hard to beat for natural singletrack.

Around Alwinton is great too.

Register with http://www.mtbe.co.uk/ and http://mtbnortheast.ning.com/ and http://www.kieldertrailreavers.co.uk/ for more routes and rides people are organising all over the north east.

Grab an OS map, look for the bridal paths, plan a route and go enjoy yourself, we've got trails as good as anywhere but without the crowds.

Glad you enjoyed Kielder!

thenarrowwizard

Just wanted to say a big thanks to everybody for all the info, much appreciated

there's a lot of links here to check out which is exactly what I'm gonna do right now