Delamere Forest Mountain Bike Trails

Delamere Forest is a Forestry England forest in Cheshire, near Northwich, with one waymarked mountain bike route, the Mara and Mondrem Trail: a forest road loop of 10km, or 7km with a shortcut, with optional one-way sections of blue singletrack along the way. Two easier shared-use forest road trails, a skills area by the visitor centre and the Manley Hill bike park and skills area on the forest's western edge round out the riding, and there is a visitor centre and cafe, though bike hire and bike wash are currently unavailable.

The Trails

• Mara and Mondrem Trail (Forest Road, 10km, or 7km with the shortcut): the forest's waymarked mountain bike route, on forest roads with sharp climbs and good views. Along it you can take optional one-way sections of blue singletrack, around 4km in total, including Dragonfly Dance, Castle Ditch, The Glassworks, Pat's Run, Lakeside Ride, Hunger Hill and The Borrow Pit, with tree roots, rock steps, jumps and berms. Follow the arrows on the blue sections, and if you are new to singletrack, try the skills area first.
• Doolittle Trail (Forest Road, 3.4km) and Blakemere Trail (Forest Road, 5km): gentle shared-use trails through mature woodland, the Blakemere Trail looping Blakemere Moss on the route of the weekly parkrun, so expect walkers.
• Skills area: a small, traffic-free loop by the visitor centre with graded technical features for practising and progressing.
• Manley Hill bike park and skills area: on the western edge of the forest and marked on Forestry England's cycling map, with short downhill runs, 4X and jumps. Access is via a fire road at the bottom of Ashton Road, opposite the Outdoor Education Centre, with layby parking along Ashton Road.

All the waymarked trails are on Forestry England's Delamere cycling trails map. Non-compliant e-bikes are not allowed in the forest. Trails at Delamere are subject to periodic closures and diversions due to forestry operations, so check the Forestry England Delamere Forest page for current alerts before travelling.

Off-Piste and Unofficial Spots

• There is a wider network of singletrack and crisscrossing trails beyond the waymarked routes, ridden at your own risk and not maintained by Forestry England.
• No Brains: a short, steep run with a gulley entrance, reached from the bottom of Manley Hill.
• Old Pale Downhill: a rutted singletrack run from the summit at Pale Heights, splitting into two lines that rejoin near the end. Trailhead: what3words jazz.rainfall.coasters.
• Nettleford Wood: a natural trail with small jumps and drop-offs. Trailhead: what3words found.outraged.community.
• Wild Blighty is a useful third-party resource for tracking down these unofficial spots.

Gravel Riding

The Doolittle Trail (3.4km), the Blakemere Trail (5km) and the forest road route of the Mara and Mondrem Trail (10km, or 7km with the shortcut) are all graded Forest Road and suit a gravel bike, with variable gradients and surfaces that can be loose or potholed in places. The Doolittle and Blakemere trails are shared with walkers, so keep speeds sensible.

Getting Here

Delamere Forest, Linmere, Delamere, Northwich, CW8 2HZ, roughly 10 miles from Chester and close to the M56, well signposted from the A54, A556 and B5152. Delamere station is a 5-minute walk from the visitor centre. Free layby parking is available along Ashton Road; paid parking is at the visitor centre, at Barnsbridge and at Whitefield opposite Blakemere Moss. Forestry England members park free.

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