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Ashton Court and Leigh Woods Mountain Bike Trails

Ashton Court and Leigh Woods Mountain Bike Trails
Avg 3.02
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup
Number of Reviews (6)

*You can claim this trail if you are the trail owner

  • Information:
  • Type: MTB Base
  • Grades: Blue,Red
  • Facilities: Car Park,Toilets,Visitors Centre,Cafe,Bike Wash,Bike Hire,Rail Link
  • Distance(s): 5-10km
  • Country: England
  • County: Bristol
  • Website: Ashton Court and Leigh Woods
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Description

Ashton Court and Leigh Woods mountain bike trails are based just on the outskirts of Bristol in the South West of England. They are two MTB trails just separated by a road.

Like this?

Between the two neighbouring sites, there are two blue-graded trails in total, each with red sections. There is also a small skills area in Leigh Woods.

Bristol Trails Group manage the trails as well as other nearby trails such as 50 Acre Wood and Ashton Hill Plantation.

Ashton Court - Nova Trail (Blue with optional Red sections) 

  • The Nova Trail is a blue-graded (moderate ability and effort required) 6.5km trail. It has a flowing feel with numerous twists, turns, and drops that gradually build up your confidence. There is also an optional 860-metre Supernova red section (difficult) in the middle of the track that has a pump/jump feel to it and a rocky descent. There are a few other optional sections throughout the trail.

Leigh Woods - Yer Tiz Trails (Blue with optional Red Sections) 

  • Leigh Woods is owned by the Forestry Commission and is just across the road from Ashton Court. This is a purpose-built 4km long trail that takes you through mixed woodland and overlooks Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge. It is a moderate-level blue grade and again has an optional red option (known as the Gert Lush section). Although shorter than the Ashton court trail it is more feature-packed. It also includes a short skills area see below.

Leigh Woods - Keener Skills Loop

  • Focused on young people the Keener skills loop is for beginners and delivers progressive skill development. This is graded blue and has some more difficult sections also. It's short as you would expect from a skills loop and is approximately 500 meters long.

Pedal Progression Jump Line

  • Short series of table tops just below the main Leigh Woods car park.

Other Stuff

  • Built and maintained by the Ride Bristol. Go get involved. They are trail advocates for Bristol, doing great stuff and quite a social group.
  • Ashton Court and the country park are managed by Bristol City Council and Leigh Woods by the Forestry Commission.

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  • If you have mountain bike ridden the trails at Ashton Court and or Leigh Woods then please share your experiences with the community and post your reviews, pictures and videos to this listing.

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_timfromwales:
Avg 3.62
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Give it a chance..

Now before we get stuck in, the trails are in a city, so there is a distinct lack of elevation and serious gravity fed fun. Its not a hot destination for mountain bikers wishing to “shred the gnar” or if you are in search of real technical challenges (though the Super Nova Red section was particularly scary in the wet!). However, if you live in the South West and have a few hours to spare its well worth a visit. Firstly parking is only £1.20 for the whole day – I know this is probably not high on the your check list when visiting a trail centre but if you live in south Wales for instance, now that the Severn Bridge Tolls have been removed its a very cheap trip – and I think you should consider it. Whats here? Only about 7 miles in total of way marked trails. Mostly “flat” and cross country by nature but the constant undulation will give you a proper work out. The Bristol Bikefest is a much missed event and tested riders endurance on multiple laps up until a few years ago. These are made up of 2 main trails at Ashton Court and in the neighbouring Leigh Woods. Leigh Woods was less fun, but there are some off piste trails there that are worth exploring in the drier weather. Mostly you have twisty single track, with a mix of rocky and natural (muddy) surfaces. And don’t forget the undulation – which basically translates as you will be pedalling most of the way around. Red Sections here bear absolutely no resemblance to “Reds” at Bike Park Wales or even the Forest of Dean. In a nutshell, its a pretty easy and non challenging environment on the whole. However….. Don’t dismiss it Recently there have been some developments and new trail sections have had some work done to provide flow and jumpable features that the trail had previously lacked. There are a few sections (as you will see in my video) that are worth lapping and sessions in these short spots can help novice riders learn some skills and provide a fun playground for even the most advanced riders. So go and give it a visit, put a few hours aside and session the new bits (you’ll know them when you find them) and if you don’t enjoy yourself you haven’t tried hard enough.

What do you like?

Cheap parking £1.20 Small number of users Good skills areas All weather Bike Hire Coaching Bike hut Cafe

What could be improved?

Little Variety No elevation, means very little gravity fun Not a technical trail centre

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

04/01/2019 - almost 7 years ago

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2
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Gus174:
Avg 4.21
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Marin Trail at Ashton Court

The Marin trails at Leigh woods and Ashton court are the ideal starting point for riders wanting to improve there skills. The newish trail centre has pretty good food . I ride the trail every week with my 10 year old son and has done wonders for his riding....

What do you like?

Great local riding for any age and great for improving your riding skills for bigger things. Leigh woods has some really good off piste riding.

What could be improved?

Don't expect a Cwmcarn etc . This trail is at the edge of the city.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

22/09/2014 - over 11 years ago

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5
^
Trailmade:
Avg 2.75
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Some fun descents

Ashton court and leigh woods trails are very much the same so can be looped together to make a good ride. They have small jumps/rollers scattered around, and a couple of really fun descents that swoop you round going down longer than you think is possible for the small amount of climbing you have done. The trails are all surfaced with quite a few wheel bouncing stones that have been exposed. Ashton court and leigh woods are definitely worth the visit but maybe don't plan to do more than one day. As they're quite short they're perfect to stop off at on the way back from wales as we did. There is a small cafe and toilets up the top. Just don't park at the bottom car park as you will have a long walk up the big hill, and an even longer ride down the fire road.

What do you like?

There are a couple of fairly fun descents

What could be improved?

Not too much elavatiob

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

27/07/2014 - over 11 years ago

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2
^
JB:
Avg 2.83
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Impressive

What do you like?

Don't visit expecting it to be anything like what Wales/Scotland/FoD/Cannock/Swinley etc. have to offer. For trails so close to a city centre, it's actually quite impressive (except for one minor gripe below). My advice is to lower your expectations, and don't try to ride either the Nova Trail, Yer Tiz, or Keener flat out. I had more fun by slowing down a bit, taking my time, and looking for the best lines to have fun on the berms/obstacles. I was overtaken by a lyca clad 29er trail warrior who shouted from 20 metres back for me to get out of the way, he then proceeded to cut every possible corner on the way down one of the most enjoyable sections. What's the point in that? Ditch Strava, don't chase times, and have a blast pumping turns and jumping the obstacles on the red sections. These are great trails if you are already in Bristol, as I was.

What could be improved?

The Nova Trail at Ashton Court starts well, but there is a long section of a VERY shallow climb with rather unnecessary bends put into it that only prolong this uneventful part of the trail. It's not a steep climb by any means (even for beginners) so it should be straight in my opinion.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

14/07/2014 - over 11 years ago

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3
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BristolManc:
Avg 2.67
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Good local resource, but probably not worth a drive

If you're based around the Bristol area and want a quick blast or a night ride this is probably ideal, however if you're used to some of the bigger trail centres or the Lakes/Peaks you're probably going to be disappointed.Also the road that needs to be crossed from the carpark to the trails is very busy and definetely not ideal. There are some good 'cheeky' bits of trail, but not something you would know about unless you had a local in tow.

Would you recommend?

Date written:

28/02/2013 - almost 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

3
^
konaelf:
Avg 2.04
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Ashton Court New trails only not the off piste stuff

What do you like?

Its near to Bristol so great for locals

What could be improved?

For the £400,000 they cost its a big disappointment, if you've ridden Cwmcarn, Afan, Forest of Dean then prepare to lower your expectations - trail is tight with not much flow and the red sections are laughably short - add not easy to get to and parking can be tricky at busy times.

Would you recommend?

*No*

Date written:

18/12/2012 - about 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

-1
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