Swinley Forest Mountain Bike Centre

tjmoore:

One of my locals which has changed a lot over the years, in particular since effectively turning it into a proper trail centre with new official trails designed by Back on Track.

Good distance of trails considering the size of the forest and if you're into pedalling up there's some good use of the limited elevation. The up means some down, and fun sections with a number of air time options with not too much effort required, if over a bit too quick. Green, blue and red trails. Difficulty is in the main based on distance & climbing only. Mix of old and new trails mixes the style up a bit and variety with flowing singletrack to trails such as Labyrinth with a maze of twisty trails in a very small area. Jump gully is a popular spot and easy for beginners to practice on. Some short DH-ish runs dotted about also. All weather surfaces on the trails have made it far less of a bog to ride. As a trail centre now it's hugely popular and is boosting the take up of off road cycling. It's great to see new riders, kids and families having a go. Night riding opportunities (note car park shuts 8.30pm in summer, 6pm in winter, but you can get out once in). Home of the Bird bikes, and you can demo them there ;)

Andy:

I was told the first time that the car park gets full and the trails are full. Not the case, as the site is a family orientated, play ground, go ape, walkers, runners, the site does get full BUT MTBers are of the same breed and I've never had problems with meeting other riders, slower or faster than myself.

Only £4 to ride ALL DAY. Lots of space to ride allowing for many to ride without lining up to ride. Big variety of riding, fast, slow, twisty, climbs. Lovely fast flowing berms. Superb maintained trails dispite car park fee is for the council !!!!!!!! Bike hut for essentials. Tea, Coffee and CAAAAAAKE.

Missjdooley:

As a new rider, I honestly don't think there's too much of a difference between the green and blue! Mountain biking is supposed to be hard isn't it? Swinley has been great for me growing my skills and confidence! I'm looking forward to the day I feel ready to tackle the red loop and am fit enough to take of a "purple" blue-red-blue which I've heard so much about. The trails hold up well in the wet, better than the car park actually, and the consistent work put in by the guys running it is obvious! Super stoked this is my local centre!

Trails good in wet or dry On site cafe (the coffees not that bad!) Cheap parking Great for all abilities

Justin hall:

Best bike park in the south

good consistently well maintained trails, variety for all levels including families. Friendly riding community

Ian:

I like Swinley but I'm a little tainted by the fact they are trying to make people use only the fireroads and groomed trail. There used to be maybe thousands of km of trails in there and after 5 years I was still discovering places but when they built the groomed runs they ploughed them up or felled trees over them :( So let's talk about the groomed trails. There aren't many; 3 to be precise - a green, a blue and a red. The green is great for kids starting out but too short and the jump to blue is too much in my opinion. You often see kids and parents who don't cycle regularly struggling and blocking the way on the early part of the blue and some of it is fast. You get some silly behaviour on a busy weekend - people parking on the outside or just in the middle of corners on descents. By half way round the blue the muppetry has gone back to the lookout. That's not really a fair comment it's because the green is insufficient for novices and they probably end up put off by the blue. They need a few greens, some a decent length. The blue is good in parts but there is, in my opinion, a long tedious flat bit just before the red - it's just too twisty and the same for no particular reason and just doesn't feel right. The red isn't harder than blue really there are a couple of bits that are and some of the descents have more potential for getting it wrong but not if you exercise some self control! The best thing about the red is that you don't get people parking on it. One thing to watch out for on blue and red is that some of the berms are too short. Once you start upping the pace you find you can run out of berm which forces a messy exit onto the straight at a funny angle. You kinda get forced off the berm before you finish turning. In summary well worth a visit and excellent if you've not been spoilt by how it was before. Why couldn't they leave the old trails as well? I'm a bit sad by the amount of tree felling recently not sure why - is it harvested? Not sure if it's a true working forest.

It's close to me. It has a cafe. Not much mud as sandy ground. Lots of trees or there were - they keep disappearing

beardedbiggs:

we rode swinley again yesterday as the first time we came most of the trails were shut with diversions. we came away cursing the place and vowed never to step foot (or pedal) there again. however we decided to give it another chance now it would have dried out and we are glad we did. the blue section was a dream come true, there were table tops, large berms and steep descents. put a big smiile on our faces. we got to the red and enjoyed that also, right away you notice the step up in difficulty. the team at swinley have created some fantastic sections in areas with very little hills. the return blue is also a cracker as expected!

the blue route was very impressive some amazing red sections downhill area is fun