There is a red trail (with black options) which was the Olympic course as well as a blue, green and all-ability trail. There is also a pump track and a decent skills area.

Olympic Mountain Bike Course (Red with Black sections)

Since the games they have retained and developed the 2012 Olympic mountain bike course. It's open to everyone and is 5km long made from crushed sandstone. They have worked well with the terrain to create both technical up-hills and descents. Some are quite steep, many rock gardens, a northshore section and tight berms.
The majority of the Olympic mountain bike course is classified as red apart from 6 black features including the Triple Trouble, Deanes Drop, Leap of Faith, Oak Tree, North Shore Gap Jump and the Final Descent sections.

Blue Trail

The Blue trail at Hadleigh Park is 4km long and for novices. The red and the blue trail share many of the same sections. The blue which is for novices is more flowing and features berms, switchbacks and a dual slalom section.

Multi-User trail (Green)

The green trail is a multi-use trail. Pedestrians have priority so keep aware. It surrounds the northern perimeter of the park and bisects the marsh reaching as far as Benfleet station to the west and Hadleigh castle to the east. It is approximately 9km and is more accessible to families but does contain some steep climbs and decent.

All Ability Trail

The All Ability trail is 1.3km long and has a gradient of less than 12:1 so it is more suitable for people with physical disabilities. The all-ability trail takes in views of the Olympic Mountain bike trail, Hadleigh Castle, the country park and the Thames Estuary.

Pump Track and Skills area

There is a neat little pump track as well as a decent skills area with different progressively sized drops (some quite big), rocky sections and rollers / jumps.

Club and Groups

As part of the Olympic Legacy project the Hadleigh MTB Club has been formed. You can also check out their Facebook Group.

The Hub

The Hub is what the Visitors Centre is called. Core to the adaptation and as part of the community consultation was to make this more of a community hub to be a Gateway for all the outdoor activities on offer here at Hadleigh be it cycling or walking etc. It features a cafe, rangers offices, children's play area, toilets, changing rooms, community room, bike hire and shop.

Other Stuff

Since London 2012, Essex County Council, along with Active Essex, have been developing Hadleigh Park into a sporting venue as part of the Olympic legacy.
Architrail trail builders converted the Olympic track to make it a defined trail centre accessiblee to the general public.

Share and Review

If you have ridden the mountain bike trails at Hadleigh Park then please share your experience with us and write a short review or post your photo's or vids to the listing.