There are three XC tracks (black, red and blue) managed by the Hamsterley TrailBlazers. The volunteer community is always busy developing and maintaining the trails.

There is also Danny Hart's Descend Bike Park which is a specific Downhill and 4X area also in the same forest but run independently to the XC trails (and with its own listing on the iBikeRide site).

Hamsterley Forest MTB Trails

The Blue Trail

The blue trail is 9 miles long. It starts from the Visitors Centre. The first stretch is on a wide, purpose-built cycle track. From Grove house it is mainly on loose surfaced forest road. A final couple of miles back to the Visitors Centre is on the tarmac.

The Loop

This is a short purpose-built 1 mile blue trail. The training loop contains features of all grades from Blue to Black (optional) so can be as easy or testing as you wish

Squirrel Chaser (Blue)

Squirrel Chaser is a 8.4km (5.25 mile) blue-grade trail at Hamsterley Forest, that opened on the 6 April 2025. Designed for moderate and progressing riders, the fully waymarked route combines existing forest roads and riverside paths with 2km of new singletrack, known as Oakey Cokey, featuring flowy descents, a switchback climb, and rollable rocky features set in a scenic oak plantation. Suitable for Adaptive Mountain Bikes.

The Red Trail

The 14.5-mile red-graded trail starts from Bedburn Car Park. The route starts with the Blue trail to the Grove where it then splits off on a mix of forest road and singletrack. It is a figure of eight loop. The route then retraces a short climb past Descend Bike Park before returning to the start at Bedburn via some awesome single-track sections.

The Black Trail

The black trail is 7 miles long. The terrain is mostly narrow, rooty singletrack with drops and very steep sections. This trail has steep technical climbs, flowing single track and numerous rooty descents.

Natural Trails

There are several natural trails here like the 31.1m Hamsterley Half Century, the 21.8m Doctors Gate and the 19.2 Eggleston Moors route. There is also a good selection of off-piste riding.

Useful Sites

Hamsterley TrailBlazers for the XC, Descend Hamsterley for the Downhill and Hamsterley Riders.

Share

If you have ridden the trails at Hamsterley Forest then please come and share your experiences with the rest of the community and write a review or post some pictures or videos to the listing.