Lee Quarry and Cragg Quarry Mountain Biking

Lee Quarry Mountain Bike Trails sit in a former quarry above Bacup in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, and the terrain shows it: rocky, technical riding packed with drops, berms and rock gardens. The core network is a 7km Red trail graded difficult, a short 1km Black graded severe, easier blue graded singletrack, a dedicated skills area, two pump tracks and a purpose built trials area. A bridleway link connects through to nearby Cragg Quarry, a flowing cross country loop that turns Lee Quarry into a combined ride of around 17km.

The Trails

• Lee Quarry Red: the main loop is around 7km, graded difficult, with flowing berms, rock gardens, drop offs and jumps. It is laid out with several shorter loops built into it, which makes it good for sessioning a section rather than always riding the whole thing.
• Lee Quarry Blue: the easier option is an outer loop graded blue. It climbs on a gravel path that turns into singletrack with one challenging rock garden, then runs as gentle singletrack on fairly level ground out towards the moor. The opening section of the downhill area is graded blue too, with easy to roll berms and small tabletops that can all be rolled.
• Lee Quarry Black: a short, technical 1km trail graded severe, sharing the same rocky quarry terrain as the Red but asking for confident bike handling and balance at slow speed as well as at pace.
• Jump Area: volunteers have rebuilt the jump section as three lines for different abilities: a flow trail on the left that bypasses the jumps, the revamped original jump line through the middle, and a harder line below it. Finishing work and formal grading are planned for autumn 2026, so check the Friends of Lee and Cragg Quarries Facebook page for the opening date before you ride it. The same work may also add new features to the Blue Run.
• Skills Area and Pump Tracks: two pump tracks plus a dedicated skills area for practising drop offs, logs, berms, and climbing or descending on rocky ground before taking it onto the main trails.
• Trials Area: a purpose built cycle trials facility with several sections, set up to be approachable for beginners while still testing experienced riders. Lee Quarry also hosts British Cycling sanctioned cross country races through the year, including rounds of the Crank It series.
• Cragg Quarry: reached from Lee Quarry by a bridleway over Brandwood Lower End Moor to Rooley Moor Road, then just over 1km along the Mary Towneley Loop. Cragg's own network is around 6.5km of flowing singletrack, making good use of the old quarry spoil heaps. Ride the two together and it's a cross country route of around 17km in total, graded blue overall.

Beyond the quarries there is plenty of natural trail riding in the area too, including access to the Mary Towneley Loop and, across the regional border in West Yorkshire, the natural riding around Calderdale. As with any unwaymarked riding, download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.

Local Organisations

• Friends of Lee and Cragg Quarries is the volunteer group looking after the site day to day. Since starting in 2025 they have resurfaced the main access route, repaired a washed out climb to the Cragg link, refurbished the pump track profiles, and cleared drainage. Find them on Facebook and Instagram.
• The Lee/Cragg Quarry MTB group and the Lee/Cragg Maintenance Team are both active Facebook groups for trail conditions and dig days.
• For a guide or coach in the area, Adam at Trail Explorer works throughout the North West including Lee Quarry and Gisburn Forest.

Getting Here

Park for free at Futures Park, Bacup, OL13 0BB (by the Kingfisher Centre), then ride or walk the short distance up to the quarry. There are no toilets or cafe right at the trailhead, so come prepared, though Bacup town centre is a short ride away for food and facilities.

By road: take Bacup Road (A681) to Waterfoot, continue straight across the mini roundabout staying on the A681 as it becomes Newchurch Road, then straight across the next mini roundabout through Stacksteads. Pass JJO's factory on your right and Futures Park is 200m further on the right.

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