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Haldon Forest Mountain Bike Trails

Haldon Forest Mountain Bike Trails
Avg 3.41
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup
Number of Reviews (14)

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

  • Information:
  • Type: MTB Base
  • Grades: Green,Blue,Red,Black
  • Riding: Cross Country,Skills Area,Pump Track
  • Facilities: Car Park,Toilets,Cafe,Bike Hire,Visitors Centre,Guiding
  • Distance(s): Under 5km, 5-10km, 11-20km
  • Country: England
  • County: Devon
  • Website: Haldon Forest
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Trail Network & Rider Segments

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Description

Haldon Forest Mountain bike trails are situated in Haldon Forest Park near Exeter in Devon. It is set in a woodland forest of 3,500 acres with scenic views it is home to five mountain bike trails, a bike skills area, and a pump track.

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Discovery Trail - Multi-Use

  • The Discovery Trail is an easy family friendly 1.5-mile (2.5km) route on a fully surfaced track. This is a multi-use trail, please be aware of cyclists and other users.

'Spicers' (Light Blue)

  • This is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) long and stays up on top of the ridge line, a good step between green and blue grades. There is a short 'two-way traffic' section near the beginning of the trail.

Kiddens (Blue)

  • This is a 4.0 miles (6.3 km) long blue trail 

Ridge Ride Trail (Red)

  • The Ridge Ride Trail is a shortish 6.4 miles (10.3 km) in length and is graded as difficult encompassing more technical sections, tighter corners and steeper descents combined with fast flowing singletrack.
  • In Dec 2023 they opened a new 700m red section on the Ridge Ride built by  Clixbys Land Design , funded by car parking income and aims to improve the enjoyment of riders on the trail and improve visitor safety by reducing the number of cyclists needing to use the (shared use) green graded "Discovery Trail". This has historically been a high 'user conflict' area. There are also plans for an additional bermed section which will provide a shortcut to the Clapham Road crossing.

Ridge Ride Extreme (Black)

  • The Ridge Ride Extreme trail covers a short 0.6 miles (0.9 km) and is graded as Severe in ability and effort. This is an optional Black graded section off the Red. It consists of rocks, berms, drops and step downs.

Bike Park Skills Area and Pump Trail

  • The pump track and bike skills area are built with progressive skills development at its ethos. The Skills area gives you a taster of some of the features you will find on some of the trails with easy, medium and hard options allowing you to develop your confidence and skill.

Off Piste

  • Like most MTB regions there is a selection of unsanctioned off piste trails in the area.

Cycling Clubs and Groups

  • EMBC Exeter mountain bike club

Share

  • If you have ridden any of the Haldon Forest Mountain bike trails then why not share your experiences, post some pictures, videos and / or leave a quick review. 

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guest:
Avg 3.10
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Haldon is ok

Good trail center definitely more cross country trails though

What do you like?

Great facilities and decent trails

What could be improved?

The blues and the red are decently long but the black is short with a black level entry but the

rest is plain single track

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

23/07/2024 - over 1 year ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
^
Corinna:
Avg 3.90
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Haldon’s off piste is better than actual trails?!

such a great place but the manmade stuff is not as good as the off piste thats what you go to haldon for

What do you like?

great facilities and recently(ish) new start to red is different to most parts of the forest and is a cool change 

off piste if very good

What could be improved?

not a load of trail variety and the black is very short 

could do with a lot more of the off piste trails marked and made into official ones

Would you recommend?

yes

Date written:

03/07/2024 - over 1 year ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
^
gilesmartin81:
Avg 3.21
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Visit to Haldon

good fun place to visit with the bikes, handy location to get to.

What do you like?

I have been to Haldon a couple of times recently, the first with my girlfriend and then after work when I am working in Exeter. The trails are not long about 5 miles for the red, but both are great fun and you can have a good time whatever your ability. When I went with my girlfriend it was the ideal place to help her build confidence on the blue and following on from that she has continued to ride more and more at home. The red is great fun, reasonably technical and fast. while it is not the longest trail, that did give the option to ride it a few times and see how you improve as you learn the features each time. i managed 4 times round the red and two on the blue along with a disastrous attempt at the black. The views from the blue and the red offer the best you can fine, on both sides of the hill, it is tricky to keep an eye on the trail when you are being distracted by the amazing scenery. There is also a great looking skills centre and a pump track by the car park and a good looking cafe for when you get back.

What could be improved?

The first time I went i forgot the axle for my front wheel so hired a bike, they are fine for riding the family trails, but beware if you want to use them for much else, the brakes on the bike I used were close to non existent, which made for interesting cornering. If you are happy with shorter tails which can be ridden a couple of times, and are not looking for the most technical trails then this is a great venue to visit.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

21/04/2015 - over 10 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

3
^
MattWatts:
Avg 3.29
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Soft spot for my old local trails.

What do you like?

Having lived a stones throw away from this place for a good couple of years, I went at least once a week and had the runs pretty dialed in. Set some pretty fast times around the place at the crack of dawn with nobody else around. The red is actually quite a blast with some really fast, smooth and compact trails so you literally can fly. Good views to be had all around, but nothing too challenging technically. Nice well maintained and managed trails overall. Has a good little cafe. Pump track area could be bigger but its alright. Good coffee.

What could be improved?

Gets busy at weekends, with people cycling (I hate to say it) extremely slowly on the red. Yes I do use Strava for my sins. You occasionally get dog walkers or the such like on the red trail taking shortcuts or whatever which has the potential to be dangerous.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

15/03/2015 - almost 11 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
^
Andy Lambert:
Avg 4.08
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Haldon Forest

The besy family trail centre I have ever been to. We took our children 3 times during a recent holiday. They are 2yrs (balance bike) and 5 yrs old. Hours of fun on the easy pump track and skills area. They both did the geen trail with no problems and my 5 yr old girl did the blue after daddy checked it out. She was so chuffed with herself. I had a had a quick blast around the red with black extension, which can be ridden quickly. Would be graded blue with red elsewhere. We will definitely be going back soon.

What do you like?

The best trail centre for children. Family friendly blue is a great introduction with stunning views. Plenty of other activities on site.

What could be improved?

Not for experienced riders.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

20/08/2014 - over 11 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

1
^
Trailmade:
Avg 3.44
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Plenty of rock

What haldon lacks in berms it makes up for with undulating fun. It keeps you rolling nice and fast across the rocky terrain. The red isn't too hard at all here so can be ridden by most providing you have some off road skill. My favourite thing about haldon that makes me want to go back is the skills area. It is really good fun with little sections of things like little drops, rollers and north shore/boardwalk of different levels to build your skills up. The pump tracks are fairly good fun but never appropriate when you have the big wheels out. It's been a few weeks since i visited haldon but some of the descents still have me smiling!

What do you like?

Lots of undulating fun

What could be improved?

Not much variety out on the trail

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

27/07/2014 - over 11 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

1
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