Hadleigh Park Mountain Bike Trail Centre

I have used Hadleigh MTB track since the day it opened to the public and have raced there on a few occasions.  
I have even worked with the park team organising track repairs through corporate responsibility days and yet over the past few years I have watched in horror as the track deteriorated into a shadow of what it used to be.

The trails are being reclaimed by the surrounding undergrowth which leaves you stung scratched and cut by the overhanging brambles, thistles and nettles.

As for the trails themselves they are falling apart leaving the weed dams showing in places and in other places all there is left is stones, making it feel like your riding on marbles with the risk of an off at any moment.

The leap of faith, one of the signature feature has been closed for at least two years now with the rock garden rapidly becoming another feature that is falling apart.

It is so sad to see what was the jewel in the British MTB race circuit and the Olympic legacy just be left to go to rack and ruin.

Its time bring it back to life!  Use trail makers not second rate contractors and the trails will last and the legacy will live on.

The hub, scenery, excercise value

The track is a complete deathtrap. I have been riding and competing since the day it was open to the public. The venue was fantastic originally attracting talented riders from all over essex however over the last few years the track has been left to rot.

In my eyes the track needs to be shut to the public until it has been completely repaired including cutting the vegetation back that is starting to swallow the trails, filling the wheel swallowing gaps on all features (rock garden being the main culprit), open the original features that have been shut due to the lack of attention but MOST IMPORTANTLY adress the track surface. It is completely broken up making it like riding on marbles! I fell victim to this not so long ago, heading into a berm and washing out due to the gravel and large rocks at the entrance, splitting my forearm straight open.

I get it mountain biking is a dangerous sport. I have ridden most of the uks big name trails fort william, bike park wales ect... hadleigh is an embarrassment in comparison. I want to ride a track where i dont have to fear if im going to ride through cow pat and potentially becoming unwell or worse hit one!

Groom the trails, fix the features, get rid of the cows and bring back the racing.

None. Apart from how it used to be.

Such a fantastic venue away from the hustle & bustle of vehicle traffic.

I use both mountain bike and gravel bike, with friends or on solo rides.

Clean and friendly with all ages and abilities.

Very sad to see the state of what was viewed as one of the best venues of the 2012 Olympics.

Little work has been done on the track and maintenance has steadily worsened over the last few years despite the local HADLEIGH MTB Club offering assistance to volunteer on maintenance days which has been ignored. The current track surface is dangerous to even the average rider, a lot of the features are in disrepair (see the list below) and as a MTB coach I would be concered on using it as a location to use on a regular basis. In addition, nature seems to be taking back the space as a number of the trails are now completely overgrown with brambles and stinging nettles. 

Little maintenance work has been done on signage and people are now starting to use the track for walking dogs and playing with their children which could be both dangerous for them and not nice for a rider riding through uncollected dogs mess. In fact, there has been situations where people have almost been hit by riders after playing on MTB features.... I have almost run into a couple picnicing at the bottom of the Triple Trouble A line!

The current published pictures of the track on the Hadleigh Park web site are not a great representation of what the site currently looks like which I am sure is disappointing for those people visiting that have not been there before.

Personally it is not somewhere I bother riding specifically apart from as a short cut on my way home after riding the local woods.

The cafe is good with lovely service

A massively overachieving underachiever. 
Needs more technical sections

Sadly very few.
Some brief but nice sections ,
the iconic sections featured in the Olympics

lovely estuary views 

Unfortunately, since the 2012 Olympics MTB race was held at the venue little has been done by the council to maintain it. Local riders did volunteers at the start to help with the track but this was not supported by the park. Many trails are now shut, and the track has been out of use for years with no MTB races being held here. Features are overgrown and can not be ridden. The dual slalom is now just a single track with one of the tracks taken back by nature and the other almost grassed over. The gravel is loose and sketchy in places where you can ride the track. I tend to ride through and out to better local trails in the woods.

The cafe and bike shop are still open but that is about it.

Not many, there is a nice view of Canvey