Whinlatter, Gisburn or Grizedale

DigitalStorm

Me and a mate are heading over to the North West to take in a trail centre this weekend and cannot decide which of these 3 would be best, we are looking for some fast flowing single track with the odd technical section thrown in and not loads of family riders/walkers pottering along slowly to kill the momentum.

Looking at vids of the 3 centres and looks like Whinlatter is maybe the best for us, but any information on the above 3 would be appreciated.

We ride Dalby and Hamsterley as our local centres and are not adverse to some big climbs along the way.

grim168

Did whinlatter recently for the first time and ride Gisburn regularly. Whinlatter felt shorter doing both loops so rode the north loop twice. It's more spectacular than Gisburn but I think Gisburn is more varied.

stubs

All 3 are pretty similar with nothing that a competent rider cant do with no massive climbs.

Gisburn is probably the least busy at the weekend and Grizedale is the easiest ride but the busiest. My personal choice would be Gisburn with Whinlatter 2nd choice.

The Real Radioactiveman

Whinlatter > gisburn > grizedale.

However if you want to go au natural as well that would bump grizedale back uo to first position for me.

The Northern Monkey

The Real Radioactiveman wrote:

Whinlatter > gisburn > grizedale.

However if you want to go au natural as well that would bump grizedale back uo to first position for me.

+1

Whinlatter is a cracking trail center.

1mancity2

I ride Gisburn weekly, if your getting the pedals down you can do the "8" loop in an hour, this is going hell for leather and not stopping to do techy sections like the "slab"

I usually go round twice and take in the hope line a few times, making it a 3hr session.

If I go with mates we do the 8 once and do the slab and hope line and that takes around 2.5hrs

cammer

Whinlatter or Gisburn if sticking to the waymarked routes.

I rode Whinlatter on Sunday and it was in good condition. They have been doing small improvement work over the summer and it shows. Really enjoyed it. Definitely fast and flowy with technical sections.

Do Gisburn next time, definitely worth another trip this way!

The North Face at Grizedale suffers badly with bad weather and really needs some maintenance. It's not to say it is a poor trail just not as fast and flowy as the others. Go natural if heading to Grizedale mixed in with parts of the North Face.

stumpyjon

Could also combine Gisburn with a trip to Lee & Cragg quarries 8)

angry_bird

cammer wrote:

The North Face at Grizedale suffers badly with bad weather and really needs some maintenance. It's not to say it is a poor trail just not as fast and flowy as the others. Go natural if heading to Grizedale mixed in with parts of the North Face.

This, had much more fun playing around at grizedale exploring the place than I had at Whinlatter, some really cracking riding.. But if you can't be bothered to explore then Whinlatter.

Briggo

Whinlatter is fookin awesome but holy hell that North loop is wet, slippery and cut up (or was when I was there), guessing being north facing it doesnt get as much sun to dry out However the last downhill on North is bloody brilliant and scary if you've never done it and don't expect it.

South loop though I loved, simple up and down which the downhill is superb imo.

DigitalStorm

Many thanks for all the feedback everyone seems like we will have to make a few trips and try them all at some time.

stumpyjon wrote:

Could also combine Gisburn with a trip to Lee & Cragg quarries 8)

Nice idea, I like the look of the quarries.

Spoilt for choice over in the North West it seems.

bails87

I'd take Whinlatter over Grizedale any day. Haven't done Gisburn, but Whinlatter was the best trail centre I've ridden at, and Grizedale about the worst. Better than nothing, but when Whinlatter is down the road I'd always choose Whinlatter. Even the blue is a laugh.

shm_uk

1. Whinlatter
2. Gisburn (in the a.m, with Lee/Cragg Quarry in the afternoon)
3. Grizedale

shm_uk

Spoilt for choice over in the North West it seems

If you're travelling all the way no the NW, it would be a shame not to ride some of the Peak District around Hope/Edale/Hayfield/Ladybower

DigitalStorm

shm_uk wrote:

Spoilt for choice over in the North West it seems

If you're travelling all the way no the NW, it would be a shame not to ride some of the Peak District around Hope/Edale/Hayfield/Ladybower

Thanks for the idea, looking them up now, although it only takes 1 1/2 hours to get over there from here but going to check them out too.

ChaosStorm

Briggo wrote:

Whinlatter is fookin awesome but holy hell that North loop is wet, slippery and cut up (or was when I was there), guessing being north facing it doesnt get as much sun to dry out However the last downhill on North is bloody brilliant and scary if you've never done it and don't expect it.

South loop though I loved, simple up and down which the downhill is superb imo.

If you are mentioning the Whinlatter N Loop, which is how it reads then I am going to let you in on a little 'secret' the North loop is actually south facing, just north of the road pass. South loop is on the north side of the hill to the south of the road :P

I am of the opinion that Whinlatter is better than Grizedale, but this may be because I have ridden Whinlatter a lot more than Grizedale ergo I ride Whinlatter faster and so enjoy it more. Havent yet ridden Gisburn so cant say anything about that - only started riding early this year really... Got the bike back end of last year then couldnt ride for about 2 months thanks to the snow blocking all access to the trails - Whinlatter would probably be rideable in the snow as it spends quite a while under thick trees...

delcol

if your doing a weekend then.

do lee/cragg. then over to gisburn afternoon or gissy then lee cragg
day 2 defo whinlatter..

whinlatter has some really good singletrack....

Scottsparkrider

All three sites are well worth checking out, however Grizedale's natural trails are superb and make that number one for me.

bjj.andy.w

Scottsparkrider- couldn't agree more. Did a route a month ago around grizedale and we used some of tnf trail to link up some of the fantastic b/w's in the forrest. Breasty how and low parkamoor are two great decents.

snotty badger

ChaosStorm wrote:

Whinlatter would probably be rideable in the snow as it spends quite a while under thick trees...

I went up for a night ride last Tuesday, it had quite a bit of snow. Even under the trees was bloody tricky to ride, still very enjoyable though.