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Swinley Forest Mountain Bike Centre
Avg 3.92
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup
Number of Reviews (64)

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

  • Information:
  • Type: Purpose Built Centre
  • Grades: Green,Blue,Red,Black,Ungraded,Forest Road
  • Riding: Cross Country,Downhill,Wild Trails,Skills Area,Bike Park
  • Facilities: Car Park,Toilets,Visitors Centre,Cafe,Bike Wash,Bike Hire,Bike Shop
  • Distance(s): Under 5km, 5-10km, 11-20km, 21- 30km
  • Country: England
  • County: Berkshire
  • Website: Swinley Forest
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Trail Network & Rider Segments

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Description

Swinley Forest Mountain Bike Centre is in Bracknell, England and consists of red, blue and green XC trails, a skills area, and a few Downhill tracks. Swinley Forest is quite sandy so holds dry well in the winter and rainy months. All trail maintenance, design and construction at Swinley is Managed by Earthworx Trail Co in conjunction with The Crown Estate 

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Blue Loop

  • The Blue moderately graded route is 10.1km long. The Blue is built for novices and its aim is to inspire confidence. You leave the Lookout past the trig point on Gravel Hill. You then descend to a bermed, single-track section then through a pine forest and finish through Windsor Ride to New England Hill. Incorporates "Full Nine Yards", "Devils Highway" and "Stickler". Around The Stickler point, you have the choice of continuing the blue back or taking on the Red. 

Red Loop

  • The Red graded loop is 13km long and connects sections such as Seagull, Tank Traps, Whole Nine Yards, Deerstalker and Labyrinth into a loop.
  • The route continues from the Blue as described above. You enter Tank Traps and then on to Crowthorne Reservoir. On to Satan's Grotto with its tight twisty single track and then crossing Devils Highway onto Seagull. Follows the forest road to Surrey Hill Reservoir down the "F1" descent into the forest then up the tough Boardwalk climb. Down to Deerstalker, through the Labyrinth out onto the forest ride. Some more Forest Road sections till you hit Cobblers before returning on the blue trail back. 
  • For clarity, the Red starts at pretty much the midpoint of the Blue and returns at its end again along the Blue.
  • Along the red route you can diverge onto a neat jump line (splits into two options to step it up a gear). This line(s) can be sessioned over and over to improve those skills.

Green Loop 

  • The Green graded Loop is for families and beginners and is 1.2km long. It has gentle dips and rises on a wide track. 

Downhill Area’s 

  • There are a few short downhill runs dotted along the way off the red route at the mid way point.
  • In the downhill area (around Red Route marker 10) you will find the rebuilt red graded line that replaces the old Bikini Line, running straight from top to bottom with features all the way down and no mid trail pull outs or cut ins.
  • Babymaker is a separate red graded jump line with berms and tabletops that can be sessioned from the same push up.
  • The same small hillside also includes a handful of other short red descents and jump lines, including, Berminator and Deer Stalker, giving a compact cluster of gravity focused options beside the main red route.

The Summit - Skills Area 

  • The Summit is a purpose-built skills area with trails and features ranging from green to black. It’s designed for riders of all abilities to build confidence, work on technique, and progress at their own pace. The Summit is run by Swinley Bike Hub (shop found on trail centre) 
  • Day access is available through single-session passes (£10 adult / £7 under 18), along with 5-credit passes and monthly memberships for regular riders
  • The area is open via bookable sessions, with online registration and a signed waiver required. Sessions are staffed by first-aid-trained managers, and riders are responsible for choosing features within their ability level. Includes:
    • Berms and rollers
    • Tabletops and gap jumps
    • Wooden drops
    • Flow trails
    • Tech trails
    • Graded progression from green to black

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  • If you have ridden the mountain bike trails at Swinley Forest then please share your experiences and post your reviews, pictures and videos to this listing. 
Semb.co:
Avg 3.85
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Swinley seconds.

From Seaford East Sussex, Swinley Is a bit of a drive, but after two trips in July I can't wait to go back and have some more. Great red and blue taking in the old and adding some new trail, fantastic sets of berms and some nice flow.

What do you like?

Great well maintained trails, fast flowing Red with some nice technical sections and a sweet blue that keeps a smile on your face.

What could be improved?

Long drive for me, but worth it. Cafe, more cake please

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

17/08/2013 - over 12 years ago

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1
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MarkSmith:
Avg 3.65
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Hugely improved - now a trail centre

Swinley has now officially become a trail centre. Years of being maintained by hard-working pixies and maintaining a growing popularity eventually took its toll and the Crown Estate had to step in. They've ploughed a lot of money into weather proofing some of the existing trails and building new ones - and the result is fantastic. A blue and red loop that stack on top of each other, with a green loop just to get families started. This has become the perfect place to take your friends and family who aren't sure about how much they love MTBing, and letting them realise they do! The blue has a few sections to challenge newer riders, but is mostly aimed at putting a huge grin on riders of all abilities. The red has a lot of the old favourites in and more technical challenges for better riders taking sections at speed. A remarkable amount has been done with the gradient available and the rumour has it there's more to come, with TrailTeamSwinley taking the reigns on development. For the old-timers there's still trails available in Crowthorne Woods with a more natural feel, but as with the old Swinley: you'll need to know where to look. I don't know if it's worth the long travel times that some of the Welsh trail centres justify, but if you're in the area it's well worth a small detour.

What do you like?

New trails are very weatherproof - the sandy surface will munch your drive-train, but it won't hinder your progress Some signage should ensure you won't get lost any more Brilliant flowing singletrack - the blue will make you look good!

What could be improved?

No free bike wash (£1 in the hire place, though not advertised) Cafe could do with more impressive and cheaper cakes! Finding a parking space on busy days

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

29/05/2013 - over 12 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

4
^
Hummerlicious:
Avg 3.71
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Red and Blue fun

Went this weekend for the first time since the trails have been finished. They've done a good job with the signage and surfacing and both trails take in most of the good bits of the legacy trails. The Blue trail is good for everyone and if you are an experienced rider try riding it as quick as you can for a good buzz. Some really good fun sections on the Red trail, glad to see that the Deerstalker / babymaker runs are still in action too, really good fun.

What do you like?

Well marked Trails well surfaced Cafe

What could be improved?

Parking can be busy Cafe expensive

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

21/04/2013 - over 12 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
^
mikeyboyMills:
Avg 4.83
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

South East's newest Trail centre. A source of much optomism!

Swinley Forest Mountain bike trails have been recently restored by Rowan Sorrell and the Back on Track Guys responsible for some of the best trail Centres in the UK such as Afan, Brechfa and the Forest of Dean and I have to say they have done a fantastic job! Swinley was always great but you had to know where to go and in winter it was a bit of a gloopy mess. This changed, when after 4 month of development the new trails opened. What you now have are 3 routes. A green route for young families, a Blue for intermediate and a red for more advanced, with the blue and red being stackable routes so that you start on the blue and then divert off mid way round to do the red, then finish on the second half of the blue. In terms of the trails, what you get is a mixture of natural singletrack on the red, which is largely the older, well known trails such as tank traps and the Labyrinth and a nearly all new blue run which is an all weather, man made hooliganism blast with berms, table tops and lots of flow! In summary I love it! Its quick enough to do a quick lap after work but engaging enough to make you feel like you have had a work out! The facilities are excellent, and only the lack of a bike wash prevented it getting 5 out of 5. With the lack of other traditional trail centres in the South East I expect Swinley to come to the forefront of Mountain Biking in the South East. As our sport becomes more main stream its trails are great for people looking to get into the sport as well as seasoned people already in the know. I recommend that you check it out as soon as you can!

What do you like?

Awesome Blue Trail. One of the best in the UK Fast and flowing sections provide THAT grin factor Great facilities

What could be improved?

No Bike wash

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

09/04/2013 - almost 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

4
^
appleyam:
Avg 4.11
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

wet weather riding

been using swinley as an all year round centre for the last 8-10 years. great fun all year round. great in the wet great in the frost not bad in the snow sand is out to get you always something new about the ride

What do you like?

trails when wet firm up and offer better grip than the bone dry sand of summer. the wet roots are great for skills/balance development and give core muscles a hell of a work out. wet stuff doesn't really stick to the bike and double the weight. drains pretty quick offering decent riding all year round trail fairies come out and repair damage with hardcore and cut new fun bits too - many thanks!!!!

What could be improved?

trails do suffer from excessive use in wet and keep getting wider and with deeper ruts. think some of the busier trails should be shut to allow the ground to recover periodically not the trail centre solid surfaces so speed suffers but strength builds

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

10/10/2009 - over 16 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

1
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stumpy_dan:
Avg 3.54
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Swinley - not bad for a London day trip

The blue is a well built trail that is good for novices and families. It has all the hallmarks of its designer Rowan Sorrell and other blues he has designed like the Verderers at the FOD as it is wide, has flow and a few rollecoaster descents with big berms. The Red takes in a lot of the old favourites like tank traps, labrynth and so on and that is great but felt a lot of the new trail was quite flat with too much fireroad. There is one neat new section (15) which is a rollercoaster. Overall though i'd like to have seen a bit more development on the Red and some more gnarly sections. Some of the new sections in 2014 get really muddy and sticky. Lacks a black and at last a bike park is on it's way. When you join the blue and red together as one trail they are a full 24km giving a decent work out.

What do you like?

Flow Berms Drains well Good for family and novices

What could be improved?

Very pedally Not enough gnarl No Jump Gulley Gets tedious after a few rides

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

09/10/2009 - over 16 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

6
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