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Whinlatter Forest Park Mountain Bike Trail Centre

Whinlatter Forest Park Mountain Bike Trail Centre
Avg 4.26
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup
Number of Reviews (34)

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

  • Information:
  • Type: Purpose Built Centre
  • Grades: Blue,Red,Forest Road
  • Facilities: Car Park,Toilets,Visitors Centre,Cafe,Bike Wash
  • Distance(s): Under 5km, 5-10km, 11-20km
  • Country: England
  • County: Cumbria
  • Website: Whinlatter Forest
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  • Email:

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Description

Whinlatter Forest Park Mountain bike trail centre near Keswick in Cumbria in the Lake District has two purpose-built mountain bike trails: the red Altura trail and the blue Quercus trail. It also has a waymarked forest road graded trail

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Whinlatter Forest Park rises to 790 metres above sea level and is England's only mountain forest so the views of the Lake District and into Scotland as you ride are spectacular. 

The Altura Trail

  • The Altura Trail is graded red and is 19 kilometres long (including 15 kilometres of new singletrack).  The trail has been built for experienced riders with good off-road skills and a reasonable level of fitness.
  • It has challenging singletrack sections and popular features like berms, jumps, rock gardens, skinnies, corkscrews and tabletops. There are also great views of Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite and the surrounding fells.
  • It is split into a North Loop and a South Loop and part of the benefit of Whinlatter is that you can conveniently mix and match sections e.g. do the blue Quercus then the Altura South Loop for variety. 

The Quercus Trail

  • The blue Quercus trail has a 7.5km option and a shorter 3.5 km option. It consists of flowing single track with gentle berms, rolling jumps and wide gradual climbs with technical features. The trail starts downhill with sweeping intricate bends, then climbs up and bends and twists its way until riders come face to face with the Big Wall, a double-banked bend within the forest. After climbing up through oak woodland, the trail crosses a bridge and into the darker conifer forest. The trail finishes with the hollow sound of a raised boardwalk over a bog and through the forest.

Gorse Cycle Trail

    • A 10km forest road graded route, along well-surfaced forest roads. Long gradual climbs and descents through fantastic scenery.

History

  • The trails were built by trail builders Clixbys with funding support from the North West Regional Development Agency who not only helped fund the trail but also the redevelopment of the car park at the Visitor Centre.  
  • The Altura is the longest purpose-built mountain bike trail in the Lake District and took nine months to build. It was constructed using material that had been sourced from the forest. 
  • The Quercus Trail is named after the Latin for Oak (Quercus Petraea) because the furthest loop of the trail runs through the Masmill Oak Woodland.

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  • If you have ridden the mountain bike trails at Whinlatter Forest then why not share your experience and add some pictures, videos or a brief review to the listing.

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Dale Trails:
Avg 3.65
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Whinlatter Forest Trails

Whinlatter has always been a fantastic place to ride if you fancy a good Lakeland ride without the need for a map and compass. The Red North and South trails offer plenty of technical and fire road climbing coupled with sweeping descents, switchbacks and a few jumps thrown in at the end to keep you on your toes. The Blue Quercus trail is fast and flowing with enough challenges for beginners to get to grips with mountain biking but also enables more experienced riders to get their buzz if the trail is ridden at speed. Short and sweet. The famous Siskins Café offers all manner of culinary delights to fill refill your tank after a ride and of course there is also the excellent Cyclewise shop offering bike rental, skills courses and all the latest bikes and kit to blow your hard earned money on! Well worth a visit!

What do you like?

Great routes, caters for all abilities, good shop and cafe

What could be improved?

The red North route climb can be a drag but they have added technical side routes to ease the boredom of the original fire road climb.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

16/08/2013 - over 12 years ago

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2
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RJ2DJ:
Avg 3.58
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
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Visited in summer and only did the blue, but it was so good we did it twice. The hire shop were friendly and helpful, and the bikes they rented out were of decent quality and well priced. The car parking is a bit pricey, but you can't beat the convenience. We didn't stay for the cafe facilities as it's only a short drive down to town. The trails themselves are impeccably sign-posted and seemed to be in good condition when we visited. The only thing you could accuse them of is being busy, but as it was a great day in summer it was to be expected. Will return again and do the red next time.

What do you like?

Well signposted trail The best views I've seen at any trail centre Good bike shop on site

What could be improved?

Car parking a little pricey, but plenty of it and money is reinvested.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

29/05/2013 - over 12 years ago

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2
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SaddleSource:
Avg 3.75
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
Trail Quality
General Setup

Big climbs with even bigger descents.

It claims to 'put the mountain back into mountain biking' and it certainly feels like it does! I'm afraid I disagree with the above posts, certainly the tracks are challenging, but you are in rugged Lake District terrain. It can be wet and muddy, it can be cold windy and exposed, the climbs can be long and technical and the bedrock slippery but when it all comes together these trails offer more than enough to offset this you can have an absolutely stunning day on the bike here.

What do you like?

Quercus Trail: Great for beginners and families, though do be careful if you're an experienced rider, there can be children on the trail who can be intimidated by someone rushing up behind them. It has everything you'd expect from a blue route, mellow climbs and descents, flowing berms and some optional features for those who are feeling brave. A nice length so as not to put anyone off either. Red North: The long climb to the top is rewarded with a smashing two part descent. The first part is forested, it can be loose and rooty but also features some well built berms and rocky sections. After this it breaks out onto to clear mountainside. If you dare look over the drop you'll get some fantastic views, but if anything the trail is even better! lots of small jumps connecteed by a series of switchbacks mean the only thing stopping you is how much you choose to brake! Red South: Again a challenging climb but it certainly feels a lot less difficult than the North route climb. Again it features a two part descent, The first part starts from the very top, do take time to admire the views to Basenthwaite and beyond, before you launch down the rock staircase into a fast descent with interspersed climbs. Watch out for some slippery corners and medium sized drops! The second half can best be described as a downhill BMX track, big, wide berms and rolling jumps mean a big grin factor on probably the best descent at the trail centre. The facilities are also good, Cyclewise always seem happy to help and the cafe are staff are quick and polite whilst providing excellent food. If you park at one of the other car parks on the way up you can avoid paying the highest ticket prices, however, the money is reinvested in the centre so I feel it is a bit rich complaining! There's plenty of other activities on site for those that don't enjoy biking as well

What could be improved?

The climbs, especially on the North Loop are very long are fire road orientated, this can certainly feel like a drag at times. The conditions can be very changeable so do be prepared for all weathers! The drainage could also be improved, but at the end of the day this is mountain biking so a bit of nature can't hurt!

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

04/03/2013 - almost 13 years ago

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4
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StupidMonkeyKev:
Avg 4.00
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
Skills
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Whinlatter Trails

Up one side of the valley, and back down, then up the other side - simple but effective. Blue is fun too :)

What do you like?

3 trails all looping back to the car park. The 2 main downhills are long and fun!

What could be improved?

No matter if you do the North Loop or South loop first, the second loop is always a drag up the main climb. Downhills are long so you may get arm pump - stop and rest to get the most fun.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

27/02/2013 - almost 13 years ago

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3
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stumpy_dan:
Avg 4.88
Grin Factor
Trail Variety
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The Blue Quercus and the Red Altura South and North Loops.

The centre has great facilities from a decent cafe, bike shop and toilets. We headed off on the Blue Quercus first which is a really well designed trail to ease beginners into mountain biking. It's flowing with a well surfaced wide track and has a good number of sweeping berms. There is no killer up either to demotivate new riders and the forest terrain makes for a protective ride from the wind that can get quite harsh in these parts. Some of the up switchbacks offer an additional technical succession of rock slab options which are fun and quite tricky in places. There is also some very wide raised do-able wooden platforms sections (shore) which I think adds a great thrill for all. This is also not just for beginners but a fun warm up loop for riders of all abilities and despite a few puddles is a real blast. Next we did the Altura South Loop. This definitely takes it up a notch with a killer climb that snakes its way up the mountain side. The great news is we are really talking that great old fashioned one big up and one big down type of mountain biking. The down starts off quite rocky and technical with a number of very rocky sections and little drops to navigate. It's fun but you need to keep your wits about you. The final turn of this section is super, super tight. After this first section of technical descending you hit a super long fast, flowing, berms and roller coaster of a descent that will leave you grinning. Final descent is again fun with some more shore and rock and wooden steps to navigate. The next day we did the same again and threw in the North loop also. Again I l loved it. The North Loop is another big up and big down but a bit longer than the South Loop. The up of the north has more forest cover than the south and more fun bits and a technical feel which makes it more of a challenge and it also has some intermittent flatter sections with little drops and roots sections to give you a breather. The down is incredible. Rocky, rooty, little drops, bigger drops, twisty sections that lead you straight into drops and then ends on another grintastic rollercoaster of a flowing, jump laden descent similar to the final section of the south but I think a little faster and just slightly better. In my opinion the best trail centre trail in England.

What do you like?

- amazing epic location - trails with the right mix of technical to flowing terrain - it's easy to mix and match the different sections of trails here. - technical ups to make it more interesting.

What could be improved?

- car park is yes maybe just a little pricey but you can see they are investing the money back into the trails and that don't come free and as they more than deliver on grin factor I'm not quibbling.

Would you recommend?

*Yes*

Date written:

30/12/2012 - about 13 years ago

Was this review helpful to you?

2
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