Loading news…

Cannock Chase Mountain Bike Trails

Cannock Chase Mountain Bike Trails
Avg 4.01
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup
Number of Reviews (118)

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

  • Information:
  • Type: Purpose Built Centre
  • Grades: Green,Blue,Red,Black
  • Riding: Cross Country,Downhill,Wild Trails
  • Facilities: Car Park,Toilets,Visitors Centre,Cafe,Bike Wash,Bike Hire,Bike Shop
  • Distance(s): 1-5km,11-20km, 21-25km
  • Country: England
  • County: Staffordshire
  • Website: Cannock Chase
  • Facebook:
  • Instagram:
  • Twitter:

Trail Network & Rider Segments

Trail network status from Trailforks and recent rider segments from Strava (see full mapped routes and details in the Tracks tab).

Trail Status

status via Trailforks.com

Tracks Nearby

Not loaded yetOpen full view to load
Powered by Strava

Description

Cannock Chase Mountain Bike Centre has 2 red mountain bike trails known as Follow The Dog and The Monkey Trail (with black sections dotted throughout). There is also the green Fairoak and the blue Perry's trail.

Like this?

Nearby is also a set of sister downhill trails in Stile Cop known as Stile Cop Downhill (just off Stile Cop road). 

Follow the Dog (Red)

  • Follow the Dog at Cannock Chase is a red graded 6.8 miles (10.9km) intermediate mountain bike trail aimed at competent mountain bikers. This trail was designed and built by Chase Trails in 2005.
  • Highlights include 'Twist and Shout', 'High Voltage', 'Son of Chainslapper', and 'Snakes 'n' Adders'.
  • The trail consists of flowing singletrack, great views, climbs, fun descents, boardwalks, rollers, jumps, drop offs, berms, step ups, step downs and rock gardens.
  • There are a number of optional black sections on this trail. For example 'The Head Banger'is a short black-graded section. It is near the start of Let Loose, with two boardwalks, a rock qualifier, and technically challenging rock garden.

The Monkey Trail (Red with Black Options)

  • The Monkey Trail joins the Follow the Dog half way round. It's a red graded trail but this time it’s a more technically challenging and demanding trail than Follow the Dog. It is 7.4 miles long but put together with the Follow the Dog it is just over 14 miles (22.6km) long and includes bigger climbs, more technical descents and optional black graded lines.
  • The trail launched in 2010 is intended for the experienced and technically competent rider.  Some of the renowned sections to look out for are Monkey's Uncle, Upper and Lower Cliff, Rainbow Valley, Over the Rainbow, Deerskull, Pot of Gold and Roller Coaster.
  • In 2023 a new section between Deer Skull and The Original Monkey opened called 'Old Father Time'. The section has been chosen as a memorial to Martin one of the Chase Trails volunteers who passed away in 2020.
  • The terrain is loose stones, roots, mud, steep climbs, technical descents, flowing singletrack, large berms, step ups, step downs, rock gardens, boardwalks, rollers, jumps and drop offs.
  • There is also a 1km long descent on the Monkey Trail called the Five Ways Descent.
  • The black sections are optional but once on them include large and unavoidable rocks and rock gardens.

Fairoak Trail - Green

  • There is also a Green graded trail suitable for families and beginners called The Fairoak Trail which is 2.5 miles(4km) long. There is one gentle climb back to the Forest centre. Surface is mostly smooth.

Perry's Trail - Blue

  • Perry's Trail is a blue graded 2.7m (4.3km) route built in 2021. The surface is smooth with some loose stone and muddy areas. Expect flowing singletrack, gentle berms, rollers, gradual climbs and rollable rock gardens. The highlight is a fun, fast, flowing descent. There are also three optional red sections to push your skills.

Stile Cop Downhill

  • A number of red and black graded short downhill runs making good use of the 65-metre hill. All of the runs end in the same place at the bottom of the hill. There is no uplift service but it is only approximately 10 mins to push up. The site is free to ride. NB This is a nearby but different site (see the separate listing).

Groups and Clubs

    The XC trails are managed in partnership with Forestry England by Chase Trails. Chase Trails also managed Stile Cop downhill until 2016 when the Racers Guild team took over.

Other Stuff

Share

  • If you have ridden any of these trails at Cannock Chase then why not share your experience with us and write a short review, post a picture, video or favourite the trail.

📍 UK MTB Trail Index

The 2026 Trail Index is just getting started, add a rating
Angela fellows:
Avg 4.77
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Cannock rocks

Not an expert but great trails and deffo the best in the midlands

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

07/03/2013 - almost 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
^
Rob_c:
Avg 3.89
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Chase Trails

A good trail, as many otherrs have said it is really only one trail with an extension rather than 2 separate. For someone that lives in the Midlands it is the closest 'proper' mountain biking.

Would you recommend?

Date written:

06/03/2013 - almost 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
^
Bokonon:
Avg 3.65
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Needs a good blue

This is my local trail, and I ride it often. I'm not sure that FTD needs to be a red, the length and a lot of the trail would lend itself to being a fun blue. There are elements which would be beyond it, but these are the parts which don't really fit the character of the area anyway - e.g. Werewolf drops and Stegosaurus, seeing as they are comprised of imported rock, which isn't a natural feature of the chase. I think the overall loop (it's hard for me to see the Monkey as separate from the Dog) is very good, and keeps the interest coming through out. It's starts off almost immediately on singletrack, and has some great singletrack climbs and descents - although it could do with more, and switching out those fire road climbs.

What do you like?

Near my house Good fun Resilient to the bad weather Variety of lengths possible lots of other bits to do locally on top

What could be improved?

Needs a good blue trail Isn't really 2 routes, it's one with a shorter option Fire road climbs

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

05/03/2013 - almost 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

3
^
StupidMonkeyKev:
Avg 3.83
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Love the Monkey!

I like to do 2 laps of the Monkey. Its a figure of 8 with the upper loop being monkey trail and the lower one being follow the dog...I do the first half a dog, 2 monkeys then the tail end of the dog. Its well worth the 200mile round trip a couple of times a year.

What do you like?

Monkey!

What could be improved?

Short for how far it is for me to travel - hence doing two monkey loops

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

27/02/2013 - almost 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

4
^
Adam Halling:
Avg 4.14
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Cannock Chase Trail Review

Follow the Dog is a 6 mile red graded trail suitable for most people with some off road experience. The Monkey Trail is a 6 mile extension on the Dog trail, still graded as red but more technically demanding. the last two descents are the best on the Chase (Upper and Lower Cliff) Stile Cop Bike Park has over 10, 1 minute long downhill tracks along with the main "Red Run" the most used and fun trail on the hill, a great starting point as most jumps and drops are rollable. Word can only say so much, so check out our video from 2011 filmed on the Monkey Trail at Cannock Chase http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2EfN19-eH1k

What do you like?

Great bike shop (Swinnerton Cycels) Good cross country trails (Follow The Dog and Monkey) Good area to hone your skills at Stile Cop downhill area (5-6 inch travel trail bike more than enuff) Central to the country so can get busy

What could be improved?

Very busy on weekends

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

11/02/2013 - almost 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

6
^
WilliamTM:
Avg 3.75
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Cannock Chase has two red routes, Follow the Dog and The Monkey Trail. Both are tremendous fun to ride, and aren't too tricky for most people who can handle a red route. Follow the Dog is the main loop, and the easier of the two, coming in at around 6 miles or so. It's a fantastic trail for beginners too, as there's enough to challenge you if you want it to, but there's nothing major to put you off if you're new to mountain biking and all the tricky bits can be avoided or walked. Right from the start of FTD, you're on singletrack until about 1/3rd of the way around when you'll hit the one and only fire road climb. Once you're at the top, it's back onto singletrack until you reach where the trail splits in two - and the Monkey starts (which I'll get to in a minute). Carrying on the Dog from the split, and about 2/3rds round, you'll reach the campsite (which has fresh water if you need it). From then, it's all the way back down the hill back to the car park. There's nothing overly challenging in terms of features, but add some speed and you can make it as tricky as you want. The Monkey Trail starts mid-way around Follow the Dog, and if you choose to do it you'll miss out a very short section of the Dog. Where the trail splits in two, heading to the left will start you onto the Monkey, and starts off with a nice steep switchback descent down a hill to the railway crossing. Once you're over the railway line and road, you'll hit the Monkey. There's plenty of stuff to keep you busy here - short sharp climbs, fun flowing descents, several black sections, various berms, rock gardens, and some jumps. However, the fun comes when you reach Upper and Lower Cliff. These two sections have some fairly steep climbs, but the descents are awesome fun. Lower Cliff is by far my favourite, and there are several places where you can get some nice air if you want to! Plus, it doesn't take too long to ride back up each one if you want to do them again. Once you've done Lower Cliff, you head back over the road and rail crossing, back up the hill, and you'll rejoin Follow the Dog. Traffic-wise, Cannock gets very busy during weekends, especially during summer. If you can make it out during the week it's a heck of a lot quieter, but during weekends expect to get stuck behind people who are slower than you sometimes! In addition, because of the amount of traffic the trails get, the surface tends to get a lot of braking bumps, so if you have a full suspension bike, you might want to bring it a long - but you can do everything perfectly well on a hardtail or even a rigid bike. Facilities at the Chase are decent - to start with, it's only about 20 minutes ride up the hill from the railway stations at Rugeley, so it's easy to get to by train. The trail head has a large car park, bike shop, cafe, toilets, a GoApe, and is open every day (bike shop closes on Wednesdays). There's also a second cafe approx half-way around Follow the Dog, though it's not signposted that well and about 5 mins ride away from the trail. Finally, there's unfortunately no skills area of any kind on the Chase. There are some little jumps scattered around remote areas which, if you know where they are, can be fun, but there's nothing to really practise and hone your skills on, sadly. You can always give Stile Cop a go, but it's more of a downhill park (with massive jumps and so on) and even the easiest of the routes is pretty steep.

What do you like?

Long, but not too long. It's also quite flat. Great on-site facilities. Close to Rugeley railway station(s). Plenty of unmarked single-track if you know where to look.

What could be improved?

No "skills area" of any kind. It's flat(ish). Trails suffer from a lot of traffic during summer. The blue route is all fire roads, and not worth doing.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

20/12/2012 - about 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

4
^
Loading weather...

Recommended Articles

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play