Hadleigh Park Mountain Bike Trail Centre

Hadleigh Park mountain bike trail centre sits within Hadleigh Country Park on the Thames Estuary in Essex, built as the venue for the 2012 London Olympic Games mountain bike races and reopened to the public as part of the Olympic Legacy. No booking is needed. The centre offers a red Olympic course with black technical sections, a blue trail, a green multi-user trail that doubles as a gravel route out to Benfleet station and Hadleigh Castle, an all-ability trail, plus a pump track and skills area. The trails are still open and ridden, but go in with tempered expectations: several of the Olympic course's black features have been closed for years due to a sustained lack of council investment and maintenance, and general surfacing has suffered too, so check recent reviews on this listing for the current picture before you visit.

The Trails

Hadleigh Park is still open and gets ridden regularly, but manage your expectations. Several of the Olympic course's black features have been closed for an extended period due to a sustained lack of council investment and maintenance, and general trail surfacing has declined too. As of our most recent check in late 2025, Hadleigh MTB Club and rider reviews both confirmed the situation was unchanged, with no clear timeline for reopening the closed features. Read our full coverage: Hadleigh Park: riders again rank the Olympic legacy bottom of Trail of the Year. Check recent reviews on this listing for the current picture before you visit.

• Olympic Course (Red, with Black sections): The original 2012 Olympic course, 5km per lap on crushed sandstone with around 1.7km of climbing per lap, technical ascents and descents, rock gardens, a northshore section and tight berms. Riding is one-directional, with no-entry signs on the trails, so always ride the marked direction. Most of the lap is graded red; six black features raise the difficulty for expert riders: Triple Trouble, Deanes Drop, Leap of Faith, Oak Tree, North Shore Gap Jump and the Final Descent. Many of these have been closed long-term, see above.
• Blue Trail: 4km and aimed at novices, sharing much of its line with the red course but with a more flowing character: berms, switchbacks and a dual slalom section.
• Green Multi-User Trail: A shared-use crushed limestone path around the park's northern perimeter, roughly 9km, linking Benfleet station in the west to Hadleigh Castle in the east. Pedestrians and horse riders (where signposted) have priority, so keep aware. It's more accessible to families but still has some steep climbs and descents.
• All-Ability Trail: 1.3km with a gradient of less than 12:1 throughout, built to be usable by people with physical disabilities. It takes in views of the Olympic course, Hadleigh Castle, the country park and the Thames Estuary.
• Pump Track: A small pump track with rolling features and berms for building speed without pedalling, suitable for riders of all ages including younger children on balance bikes.
• Skills Area: Graded Orange, suitable for beginners through experts, with a teaching area and eight features: rock steps, berms, tabletops, drop-offs, a rock causeway, a technical climb, a rock garden and rock rolls.

Gravel Riding

The green multi-user trail is a genuine gravel route in its own right: around 9km of waymarked crushed limestone hardpack, running from the Chapel Lane car park along the park's northern perimeter, out to Benfleet railway station and across to Hadleigh Castle. It's shared with walkers and horse riders, so it suits a steadier ride rather than a fast one, but it's a solid way to link the trail centre into a longer ride, or a car-free trip out by train.

Getting Here

• Primary car park: Hadleigh Country Park car park, Chapel Lane, Hadleigh, Essex, SS7 2PP. Around 400 spaces, open from 8am until dusk, with hourly charges. Check current parking rates on the Explore Essex Hadleigh Country Park page before you go, as the park itself is very poorly signposted from the main road.
• Public transport: Hadleigh Park sits roughly midway between Benfleet and Leigh-on-Sea railway stations, each around a 40-minute walk from the trails, or take your bike on the train and ride in. c2c runs frequent services from London Fenchurch Street to both stations.

Local Organisation

• Hadleigh MTB Club is based at the park, the first affiliated club founded on the London 2012 legacy. It runs coaching, led rides and informal weekly rides for members of all ages. Follow their Facebook page for current rides, membership and trail condition updates.

Facilities

• The Hub is Hadleigh Park's visitor centre, with a cafe, toilets (including accessible and baby-changing facilities), a community room, a children's play area and disabled parking.
• Hadleigh Park Cycles, based in the Hub, offers bike hire, a retail shop, servicing and MTB coaching.

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