Mendip Hills Mountain Biking

Mendip Hills Mountain Biking covers two official trails at Rowberrow Warren, built and maintained by local charity Ride Mendips, plus the free Cheddar Pump Track, open natural riding across the wider moorland, and a waymarked gravel route linking Cheddar to Yatton. The Mendip Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the south of Bristol in Somerset, best known for Cheddar Gorge. The ground is limestone-based, so the area rides poorly in the wet months and turns into a proper mud fest; from spring onwards there's good riding across a wide network of hills, bridleways, singletrack and country roads.

Rowberrow Warren Trails

• Rowberrow Warren is privately owned woodland managed by Forestry England under lease. The landowners have given permission for two waymarked mountain bike trails plus all surfaced forest tracks, built and maintained by local charity Ride Mendips through regular community dig days.
• Please stick to the two official trails and the surfaced forest tracks; the rest of the site is a working woodland.

South West Trail

• An ungraded but technical trail running from Christmas Trees through Pig Pen and Happy Valley to Vicious Valley. Expect roots, rocks, some steep chutes and small jumps, and it gets noticeably harder and more technical once it's wet.
• A newer Christmas Jumper line adds an extra option in this section. The base build is finished and it's rideable, with ongoing dig days refining the features.
• The trail starts up to the right of the West Mendip Way bridleway, off the lane from Tynings Farm.

North East Trail

• An ungraded flow trail with two tougher, more technical optional sections, including jumps and drops.
• It starts on the bridleway near the entrance gate onto Black Down.
• Sections include Pump Track, Lumps and Bumps, Twins, The Chippy and Yee Haw.
• Ride Mendips publish a current trail map on their website.

Cheddar Pump Track

• A free asphalt pump track and skate park in Cheddar, open all year round and used by bikes, skateboards and scooters. It's run by Cheddar Parish Council rather than Ride Mendips, so track-specific queries go to the parish council.

Natural Trails

• Beyond Rowberrow Warren, the Mendips open out into genuinely natural, unwaymarked riding across Black Down, Burrington Ham and Crook Peak, linked by a network of bridleways and old droving roads. None of this is signed or graded, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.

Gravel Riding

• The Strawberry Line is a waymarked, traffic-free path along a former railway, running around 9 miles from Cheddar to Yatton on a hardpacked, limestone-dust surface with no steep gradients. It's a good gravel or family-friendly option, starting right from Cheddar alongside the pump track.

Local Organisation

• Ride Mendips is the registered charity that builds and maintains the Rowberrow Warren trails and represents local mountain bikers across the Mendip Hills AONB, working with landowners and Forestry England. Get involved through their website or Facebook page.

Getting Here

• Parking directly at Rowberrow Warren is extremely limited. Please don't park in passing places or on grass verges in Rowberrow village or on Black Down; instead park in one of the surrounding villages, such as Cheddar, Shipham, Churchill or Burrington, and ride in via the bridleways.
• Cheddar Pump Track has its own parking in Cheddar.

Share

• If you have visited Mendip Hills Mountain Biking, please share your reviews, photos, and videos to this listing.