Description
Greno Woods and Wharncliffe Woods face each other across Woodhead Road in Grenoside, just north of Sheffield, and are usually ridden as one visit. Greno's signposted loop has two red-grade descents and one black, built and maintained by Ride Sheffield in partnership with Sheffield Wildlife Trust, while Wharncliffe across the road is a much bigger and mostly unwaymarked network best explored with a local rider.
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The Trails
Greno Woods
- A signposted loop of professionally built downhill trails, connected by fire-road (bridleway) climbs, starts just across the road from the Woodhead Road car park. The full loop is 5.3km, made up of 3.6km of red-grade trail and 1.7km of black, with around 210m of climbing.
- The trails are well-maintained, free-draining, and fast, with rocky and rooty lines, jumps, North Shore-style ladder drops, and rock gardens. Best suited to intermediate and advanced riders.
- Steel City DH: the headline red-grade run, with a black opt-in line, featuring berms, jumps, and a drop into the Bomb Hole. It's the venue for the annual Peaty's Steel City DH race, which has funded trail building and maintenance in the woods since 2011.
- DH3: the loop's black-grade trail and its most technical, with large rollable jumps, a steep section, and rocky, rooty terrain throughout.
- Pub Run: a red-grade trail forming part of the main loop, a solid pick for intermediate riders linking up the full circuit.
- Greno is managed by Ride Sheffield in partnership with Sheffield Wildlife Trust, who took over the woods in 2010. Steve Peat has also been a driving force behind the network, contributing to trail design and race funding.
Wharncliffe Woods
- Wharncliffe Woods sits across the road from Greno and is steeper, rockier, and more technical, with a large spread of trails across the hillside. Forestry England, which manages the land, confirms there are no official waymarked or maintained trails here, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off, or ride with someone who knows the woods.
- Wharncouver (also called Mini-Whistler) is the centrepiece of the riding: progressive, volunteer-built lines with big features, berms, and hip jumps. Other well-known runs across the site include Vajazzle, Diamond Back, Rake and Bake, Carling Tree, Jump Track, Fergs Varsity, Truffle Shuffle, Fast Track, Nemba, No Human, and The Dogs Bollocks.
- An old 16km technical cross-country loop runs through the woods and is in poor condition, but on a dry day it's possible to link most of it together. It starts to the right as you come out of the back of the car park.
Gravel Riding
The Trans Pennine Trail (part of National Cycle Network Route 62) runs on forest track and gravel through Wharncliffe Woods, linking Grenoside to Wortley and on to Penistone, around 10.5 miles in total, with a long, steady climb through the woods. It's a proper gravel-bike route in its own right, not just a link trail. From the Woodhead Road car park it's also possible to pick up the Upper Don Trail and link to the Penistone Road cycle route for a mostly traffic-free ride into Sheffield city centre (around 6 miles).
Getting Here
The main car park for both woods is Greno Woods Car Park, 4 Woodhead Road, Wood Seats, Sheffield, S35 8RS. Parking is free, with access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Greno Woods' signposted loop starts directly across the road from here; Wharncliffe Woods' trails run from the opposite side. There's no toilet at the woodland car park itself; the nearest is at Grenoside Community Centre, off Main Street.
The Trans Pennine Trail runs through both woods, giving traffic-free access on foot or bike from Burncross, or from Oughtibridge through Wharncliffe Woods. The nearest railway station is Chapeltown.
Local Organisations
- Ride Sheffield is the trail advocacy group behind Greno Woods, working in partnership with Sheffield Wildlife Trust. Ride Sheffield also manages Parkwood Springs, Lady Canning's, and Bolehills BMX.
- SheRides ambassador Lauren Ann meets riders at the Woodhead Road car park in Grenoside for a free women's social ride that heads out over Wharncliffe Chase to Wharncliffe Crags before dropping down into Wharncliffe Woods. See SheRides for details.
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- If you have ridden the trails and tracks at Greno Woods or Wharncliffe Woods, please share your experiences and post your reviews, pictures, and photos to the listing.