Sherwood Pines Mountain Bike Trails

Sherwood Pines Mountain Bike Trails are the riding at the heart of Sherwood Pines Forest Park in Nottinghamshire, a Forestry England site with a green family route, a blue and red graded loop, a skills loop, an orange-graded downhill and dirt jump bike park, plus a beginner Pedal and Play area. There's also a forest road network good for gravel riding, and a longstanding scene of unofficial singletrack for riders who go looking beyond the graded trails.

The Trails

• Maid Marion Family Cycle Route (Green): a 6.4km loop from the Visitor Centre on the all-weather forest road network, with "opt-in" sections of the blue trail along the way for families who want to test their skills.
• Pedal and Play (Green): a beginner-focused area of around 2km, built by Forestry England for young riders and families to build confidence before the main trails, with wider trail widths for adapted and trike-style cycles and accessible seating. Three linked challenges:
  • Arrowhead Loop Challenge: cornering, berms and turns, with rollers to ride with growing confidence.
  • Quiver Challenge: four different lines to explore and refine technique.
  • Duel Challenge: two parallel lines for friends and family to race side by side.
• Robin Hood Adventure Cycle Trail (Blue): an 11.2km loop for intermediate riders, fast and flowing with climbs, descents, rollers and berms.
• The Outlaw Trail (Red): 13km, virtually all singletrack through broadleaf and pine woodland and heathland, with berms, rollers and a mix of rocks and roots. Flatter than a typical red elsewhere in the country, but a solid step up for riders developing their skills.
• Skills Loop (Blue): a short loop of singletrack near the Disc Golf course with a variety of technical trail features, suitable for all ages and skill levels. A good warm-up before heading out on the main trails.
• Bike Park (Orange): two zones. The Downhill Zone starts at the wooden start tower, with four interlinking runs down to the valley bottom, each with rock drops and jumps, finishing at the Robin Hood Trail climb from post 8. The Dirt Jump Zone has graded jumps marked Freeride from beginner to advanced, plus a linear pump track to warm up on.

Gravel Riding

Sherwood Pines Forest Park has an extensive network of forest roads and quiet tracks beyond the graded MTB trails, and the Maid Marion route itself runs largely on this all-weather forest road network. The site hosts Sherwood Pines Gravel X, an organised gravel sportive on the forest's fast, mostly flat tracks, and the on-site Sherwood Pines Cycles hires gravel bikes as well as mountain bikes. Worth exploring for a change of pace from the graded singletrack, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.

Off-Piste

Like most official riding spots, Sherwood Pines has an unsanctioned, non-waymarked off-piste scene running off the red and blue trails. Some of the better-known unofficial lines are Dragons Back, The Fish Bowl, Singletrack Heaven and Rollercoaster, along with bomb holes and long singletrack sections veering off near waymarker post 6. These aren't part of the official network, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.

Local Organisations

• Sherwood Pines Cycling Club is a volunteer-run club based at Sherwood Pines, with weekly rides for all abilities from families to faster-paced groups. See spcc.uk for current ride listings.
• SheRides ambassador Lauren Ann meets riders outside Sherwood Pines Cycles for a free women's social ride with a loose, unpressured format rather than a fixed route or pace target. See SheRides for details.
• Trail Bloom has held Ladies' MTB Days here, combining skills coaching and social rides across the centre's graded routes with bike setup and repair workshops, plus on-site bike rental for riders without their own bike. See Trail Bloom's events.

Getting Here

• Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Mansfield Road, Edwinstowe, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG21 9JL. Access is off the B6030 between Mansfield and Ollerton.
• Parking is pay and display by number plate recognition: up to an hour costs £4, up to two hours £7.50, up to three hours £11, and over three hours £12.50. Riding itself is free. Prices are correct as of September 2026 but subject to change, so check current rates on the Forestry England Sherwood Pines page before you visit.
• Bus routes 14 and 15 from Mansfield stop close to the forest entrance on the B6030.

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