Windy Bank

Redford

Ayhope Beck

HAMSTERLEYCOMMON

Bedb

urn

South Grain Beck

HAMSTERLEYFOREST

Pennington Plantation

NeighbourMoor

Lunton Hill

Bedburn Beck

Cloudlam

Bec

k Euden Beck

Spurlswood Beck

Blackling Hole

The Grove

The GroveCar Park

Visitor Centre Car Park

Blackling HoleCar Park

Sect

ion

13

Fore

st D

rive

Pike

s Teeth

The Loop

Brai

n Fr

eeze

Specia

l K

Bone

Sha

ker

4 D

C

Five Lane Ends

Poul

ty’s

Las

t Bla

st

K- Lin

e

Tran

smiss

ion

Accelerator Nitrou s

Two

Wh

ee

ls

& a

Trol

l

Odd

Sox

Root

66

6

Grove Link

Silv

er M

ile

Parking Pay and display Toilets The Loop (MTB training trail)

Visitor centre Picnic area Bike hire Shared Trail

(with other users)

Key

0m 250 500m

Suitable for: Beginners in good health with basic bike skills. Most types of bike. Trail: Relatively flat and wide.

Gre

en E

asy Suitable for: Riders

in good health with moderate off-road riding skills. Basic mountain bikes. Trail: Some ‘singletrack’ sections and small obstacles of root and rock.

Blue

Mod

erat

e Suitable for: Proficient mountain bikers with good off-road riding skills & fitness. Good mountain bikes. Trail: Challenging climbs, tricky descents & technical features such as drop-offs & large rocks.

Red

Diffi

cult Suitable for: Expert

mountain bikers with high level of fitness. Quality off-road mountain bikes. Trail: Greater challenge & difficulty. Expect large & unavoidable features.

Bla

ck S

ever

e Suitable for: Expert mountain bikers with high level of fitness. Quality off-road mountain bikes. Trail: Greater challenge & difficulty. Expect large & unavoidable features.O

rang

e Bi

ke P

ark Suitable for: Cyclists

in good health. Map reading useful (routes not always marked). Most bikes. Trail: Gradients can vary. Surfaces may be uneven or potholed in places. Look out for vehicles & other users.Fo

rest

road

& s

imila

r

Your safety Mountain biking is a potentially

hazardous activity carrying a significant risk. It should only be undertaken with a full understanding of all inherent risks. The guidelines on this leaflet must always be used in conjunction with the exercise of your own experience, intuition and careful judgement.

Routes may change owing to tree felling and other forest operations.

On Forest road and other non-dedicated MTB trails expect to meet other users. Give mountain bikers a good name and show respect at all times to other users.

No motorbikes, quadbikes, dogs or horses are allowed on the MTB trails.

Emergency info Grid reference and name of location: Grove car park: NZ065297 Visitor Centre: NZ093313 Descend Hamsterley: NZ 066288 Access road: Bedburn on the C30 (Wolsingham to Hamsterley Village)

Nearest A & E hospital: Darlington Memorial Hospital, Hollyhurst Road, Darlington, DL3 6HX. Tel: 01325 380100

In case of emergency: Call 999 or 112 and ask for an ambulance.

Inform Forestry Commission England: Please inform us of any accidents or trail problems on 01388 488312.

forestry.gov.uk/visit

Mountain bike trails

Hamsterley Forest Blue Trail9 miles/14.5 km (time 2 hours approx.) Trail Grade - Blue Moderate

Hamsterley Forest Red Trail14.5 miles/23.5 km (time 3 hours approx.) Trail Grade - Red Difficult

Hamsterley Forest Black Trail8 miles/13 km (time 1.5 hours approx. Trail Grade - Black Severe

bike...by

ExploreHamsterley Forest

Dis

cove

r th

e fr

eedo

m o

f th

e fo

rest

……

and

supp

ort

Ha

mst

erle

y Fo

rest

Buy

an

ann

ual D

isco

very

Pa

ss

for a

who

le y

ear o

f sav

ings

!Jo

in n

ow a

t the

For

est C

afe,

info

rmat

ion

poin

t or j

oin

onlin

e: fo

rest

ry.g

ov.u

k/pa

ss

Ham

ster

ley

Fore

st h

as c

yclin

g fo

r al

l the

fa

mily

and

one

of t

he b

est o

ff ro

ad c

ycle

ve

nues

in N

orth

ern

Engl

and.

Star

ting

at th

e le

isur

e en

d of

cyc

ling

you

can

ride

the

Gro

ve L

ink

retu

rnin

g vi

a th

e pl

easa

nt

fore

st d

rive

(sha

red

with

veh

icle

s).

Blue

gra

ded

sing

le tr

ack

trai

l con

stru

ctio

n is

bei

ng

prog

ress

ed w

ithin

the

fore

st a

t pre

sent

and

at O

dd S

ox

the

first

sec

tion

of te

chni

cal b

lue

trai

l can

be

foun

d.

Prog

ress

ing

onto

red

grad

e, H

amst

erle

y ha

s so

me

of th

e be

st s

ectio

ns o

f red

gra

ded

sing

letr

ack

(som

e w

ith b

lack

off

line

optio

ns) i

n th

e U

K. S

ectio

ns s

uch

as

Tran

smis

sion

, Bra

in F

reez

e, O

dd S

ox, P

ikes

Tee

th w

ill

have

you

retu

rn fo

r mor

e so

oner

than

you

thou

ght!

Mov

ing

onto

the

toug

h en

d of

mou

ntai

n bi

king

th

e bl

ack

is m

aybe

not

a lo

ng tr

ail,

but i

t is

te

chni

cally

cha

lleng

ing

thro

ugho

ut.

If yo

u w

ant t

o tr

y ex

trem

e th

en D

esce

nd H

amst

erle

y bi

ke p

ark

is th

e on

ly d

ownh

ill tr

ail c

entr

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nor

ther

n En

glan

d an

d ha

s so

met

hing

for a

ll do

wnh

iller

s. It

has

a

wel

l-ear

ned

awes

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repu

tatio

n w

ith lo

cal r

ider

s,

incl

udin

g W

orld

Cup

cha

mpi

on D

anny

Har

t, w

ho is

ju

st o

ne o

f the

top

UK

ride

rs w

ho ri

de h

ere

to k

eep

them

tigh

t for

the

next

com

petit

ion.

Not

e, a

ll rid

ers

mus

t pur

chas

e a

perm

it to

rid

e at

Des

cend

. For

m

ore

info

rmat

ion

visi

t des

cend

bike

park

.co.

uk.

Hor

se R

idin

gH

amst

erle

y Fo

rest

is a

bus

y fo

rest

for h

orse

ridi

ng. A

lot

of th

e cy

cle

trai

ls a

lso

use

sect

ions

of f

ores

t roa

d to

co

nnec

t to

the

next

sec

tion

of s

ingl

etra

ck. P

leas

e al

way

s re

spec

t hor

ses

and

thei

r rid

ers.

Slo

w d

own

and

let

the

rider

see

you

bef

ore

proc

eedi

ng p

ast

Wild

life

Wat

cher

Ham

ster

ley

is h

ome

to m

any

spec

ies

of fl

ora

and

faun

a.

From

Roe

Dee

r liv

ing

wild

to

the

best

hay

mea

dow

s in

C

ount

y D

urha

m.

Play

Tra

ilsIf

you

love

clim

bing

, sc

ram

blin

g, b

alan

cing

, hi

ding

and

gen

eral

ly h

avin

g a

grea

t tim

e, th

en th

is tr

ail i

s fo

r you

.

Wal

king

in

Ham

ster

ley

Aro

und

60%

of H

amst

erle

y Fo

rest

’s v

isito

rs a

re w

alke

rs.

This

mea

ns y

ou a

re g

oing

to

mee

t a w

alke

r som

ewhe

re

out o

n th

e tr

ail n

etw

ork.

Pl

ease

sho

w re

spec

t for

w

alke

rs a

nd re

mem

ber

the

trai

ls d

o sh

are

a lo

t of

sect

ions

whe

re w

alke

rs a

re

also

way

mar

ked

to w

alk.

Paw

s O

utdo

ors

Wal

king

you

r dog

is a

gre

at

way

to e

xerc

ise,

exp

lore

the

outd

oors

and

enj

oy o

ne o

f ou

r woo

ds. D

ogs

are

very

w

elco

me,

and

all

we

ask

for

is o

wne

rs to

be

resp

onsi

ble,

by

kee

ping

dog

s un

der

cont

rol a

nd a

lway

s di

spos

ing

of d

og w

aste

in

the

bins

pro

vide

d. P

leas

e no

te th

at w

e as

k ow

ners

to

put t

heir

dog

on a

lead

whe

n on

the

Viki

ng W

ildPl

ay tr

ail.