Mountain Biking at Whinlatter - The Quercus Trail

The Quercus trail is a fairly new blue graded MTB route at the popular Whinlatter Forest mountain biking area a few miles west of Keswick in the northern Lake District. At 7.5km it is not a long route but does follow singletrack for most of its length and is fairly hilly throughout. The official blurb describes this as "a gem waiting to be discovered" and I would agree.

It was a cold breezy day with the thermometer standing at 2 degrees C at Whinlatter Pass and a blanket of new snow on the higher fells so I opted out of doing the longer red route called the Altura Trail, today deciding on the easier Quercus instead. At first it was a little confusing as to where it actually started - the Altura is clearly marked through a gateway into the forest just beyond the cafe and mountain bike hire centre - and it was only after following this for a short distance that the blue arrows sent me off down to the right.

This first section was a delight to ride - a single track trail twisted gently downhill through the trees and into a more open area with views of the surrounding fells. It was enjoyable and (almost) effortless and there were no difficulties other than optional jumps and rocks so you can just troll along here and enjoy the ride without having to concentrate on staying on the bike. There is a short section of forest road where the route follows the line of the C2C coast to coast route 71 and we carry straight on where this branches down to the left. The blue arrows are easy to follow and the only place I went wrong was at the road crossing. The arrow appears to point left down the road but it is in fact straight on up the path on the other side where the markers are picked up again.

There is always a price to pay for easy downhill riding - it is usually followed by less easy uphill riding and here a short dirt track section led to a singletrack path the climbed in switchbacks through the trees. The gradient was manageable though and I was soon up the steeper sections though I may not have been so fast on a warm day! Now I followed the arrows along an interesting section that in a way was even better than the first part of the route with smooth bumps and banked sections on the downhills. You pass a sign that gives the choice of heading home early - don't unless you are knackered - this next loop is brilliant fun!

The route then followed a downhill with banked turns where I was able to get up some speed and enjoy the descent safe in the knowledge that I wouldn't hit anything too difficult - that's one of the joys of the blue routes - the reds are exciting but I have come across obstacles I would not like to approach at speed! The trail ends along the same route as the red Altura though this section is an easy ride back to the car park.

My summary of the Quercus Trail is "short but sweet" and I felt like riding it again despite the cold weather. Next time I'll do the Altura which is a loop of 10km followed by one of 9km but I'll definitely do this one again. It is also suitable for older kids as long as they can ride up hills there being little difficulty or danger on the route.

A word on Whinlatter Visitor Centre; facilities excellent, cafe excellent (and not expensive), information on routes and the area excellent, car parking expensive - £3 for 2hrs £5 for up to 4 hours and more for all day. This is my only gripe about the place though there is limited space outside and I havn't checked the prices at the other car park - at Grizedale for instance some of the additional car parks are free.

Pete Buckley November 2010

How far is it? 7.5km/4.6 miles >>> What's it like? Blue grade MTB trail - mostly single track, fairly hilly but not technical >>> Planning a visit? Here's the trail guide on pdf - also available from the visitor centre.

Gisburn Forest - An Introduction to Mountain Biking

Gisburn Forest in North Lancashire on the edge of the Forest of Bowland contains 2 mountain bike trails; the red graded 17km outing known as "The 8" which I rode recently, and the easier 9.5km blue graded Bottoms Beck Trail which makes up the lower loop of the figure of eight shape that gives the red trail its name. Today saw me back at Gisburn with my 12 year old son, Josh who han't been on the bike for a couple of months so giving a good reason to try the blue trail.

We rode out of the car park at Cocklett Hill - where both trails start - along the link path to turn left on the trail proper. A wide forest path led easily downhill between the trees - both trails co-existing for a short distance - before the red arrows branch off on singletrack up into the woods to the right. That first short red section has no difficulties if you fancy it but we kept to the blue route which followed a wide track then a woodland path past where the trails met up again and along a short road section beside the Stocks Reservoir.

Back into the forest on the right and we now climbed steadilyon a surface that became rough for a while into an open valley where once again the routes parted company. Just as you approach what looks like a big climb, the blue arrows point right along a nearly level path known as the Old Railway. If you're doing "The 8" it's straight on up the hill - there's more to come too!

The Old Railway section is a very pleasant pathway suitable for family rides and it meanders through woodland before meeting the other trail coming down from the left. Here there is another opportunity to try a short technical section over a small bridge. It's nothing too scary unless you go on the black grade boardwalks - boards and wooden bridges with a few obstacles parallel to the gravel forest road. The choice is yours!

This time though we stayed on the forest road and overtook 3 other bikes going up the hill - the biggest climb on the Bottoms Beck Route - before stopping for water at the junction just past the farmhouse where the trail forks again. Left here for the more challenging (but fun!) half of "The 8" and straight on for home.

Now - do I look like someone who knows where he's going, because when I'm out walking in the hills, I almost always get asked for directions. Here this good tradition was kept up by a guy who rode up to us while we drank from our water bottles. Seems he'd ridden into the forest on a side road and didn't know where he'd come in so as a consequence didn't know the way out either. This gave me visions of cyclists riding round and round the trails unable to find their way out of the forest - well I suppose it can look kind of similar!

The directions - blue and red arrows for the bike trails and coloured marks on posts for the walks - are easy to follow but they do direct you around from and to the trailhead or start point which in this case was Cocklett Hill which isn't ideal if that's not where you want to go. For those entering by unmarked forest roads, themarker posts are usually numbered and a free map from the internet shows the location of these. We saw this guy again where our route turned right off the forest road and his carried on along it. I think he found his way out!

The arrows - now both blue and red - soon directed us off the wide trail and back onto singletrack which here was a proper mountain bike trail with steep winding turns, big bumps andshort but steep climbs and descents. This section ended with some boards which were fairly wide but the water underneath remained a good incentive not to fall off and then we emerged back onto the forest road.

A short ascent as a light rain began to fall led to a faster downhill before we branched left along a meadow path that led back into the woods on a smoother surface than the previous singletrack before the highlight of the route. The finish is a smooth constructed trail with banking on the turns enabling a fast fun descent to round off the day. The track then bears left straight onto the link path towards the car park, ensuring that the navigationally challenged don't end up going round again.

Pete Buckley October 2010

Essentials >>> How Far? 9.5km/6 miles >>> What's it like? Forest Roads and some singletrack (blue grade MTB trail) >>> Start and finish at Cocklet Hill car park, Gisburn Forest

Follow this link for the Gisburn Red Trail