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Hello,
I've ridden Epping a handful of times this year as it's quite close for a quick jaunt out. I usually start around the High Beech area but I struggle to find anything really 'fun' or anything that flows.
I've found either random short bit of trail/feature or downhills that just go literally straight downhill and you lose all your elevation instantly.
I've tried trailforks but the grading is all over the place - a lot of things graded as "downhill" that i'd call more a "rigid bike XC mince" - and a lot of the recorded trails seem to be the wider footpath type.
Can someone help me with a map or some pointers of where I should be looking? I see lots of riders with big 150mm bikes so there must be something worth riding in there? Any help appreciated!
Cheers
I find easiest way to find the good stuff is to approach said riders and ask them to show you the stuff. Although maybe nervracking, that's what I've done a few times and its lead me to find some great trails and meet some great people.
Don't pay attention to 150mm bikes, you ride what you have. Going back to the Thetford thread, you see 150mm bikes there too. 🙂
There's miles & miles of natural single track in Epping but all of it can be ridden of a rigid SS, I know this coz Ive done it. Its not a place for "Gnaarrr" & almost everyone is overbiked unless you're on an XC weapon (IMHO). Epping is a place to enjoy mainly due to it being an untouched forest where trails change over the seasons & years. The rangers there don't move fallen trees unless they are on the wide fire roads and its left to its own devices. It's a mystical & quite magical place if you connect with it (highly recommend night riding it) - Theydon Mount on the opposite side of the road to High Beech is where Dick Turpin allegedly had a camp.
I haven't ridden there since I moved away but I think @Kryton57 is a regular but when started riding MTB a group of guys told me the best way to learn the forest is to get lost - coz you cant actually get lost as your never too far away from a road.
There’s loads of good stuff round there. I used to just go explore and find it all for myself, if you know where to look you’ll find more than XC stuff.
Heatmaps on Strava or Trailforks will give you help.
Not rode there since I moved to the peaks around five years ago, but remember the good stuff was very much weather dependant, any sustained rainfall would turn it into a big old bog..
I always managed to find some nice singletrack just by riding about and looking (I do have a bit of an eye for it).
Maybe another option is to find some segments in the forest on Strava and click on the leaderboard and download a route posted by someone in the top ten of the leaderboard as they are usually someone local to the area who know the trails best. Though I think you might have to be a paid subscriber to do that these days.
Epping is a maze, it’s definitely more oriented towards a hardtail rather full sus. There are some more technical trails with jumps, drops and berms in the north parts above high beach but don’t expect wales. The further south you go the more flatter it gets.
Worth getting down to Thorndon or Danbury which are more technical though a lot smaller
You don't have to be a subscriber to see that sort of thing, as I did that just last week for my local woods.
Epping is my local. Is be happy to send some gpx files /the op follow my strava but Epping is not sign posted on you need a keen eye for trails and a decent sense of direction even with a head unit pointing the way. I can do about 60k without riding the same trails.
Id be happy to guide in October when im not in my training zones if anyone wants a play in the forest.
I'm localish and ride the wider tracks on my gravel bike a fair bit. Have found a couple of singletrack bits but would love to find some more and take the mtb, so keen for those gpx files too Kryton57.
Hey - sorry I totally forgot I made this thread!
Thats Kryton, I'd love to see those GPX! Or even catch up for a ride in October if its not too boggy by then (appreciate how unrideable it gets there very quickly.)
Good tip re: North & South. I think I need to explore North a bit more, or take random tracks a bit more around the High Beech area. I tend to blast down from there and lose all the elevation really quickly.
Also good tip re: Thorndon and Danbury, well up for checking those places out!
There's potentially hundreds of miles of trails in Epping Forest, if you were to link up all the little individual bits and pieces, in all combinations. But I've found that trails can easily change from one year, or even month, to the next, as natural growth/fallen trees, conservation and maintenance work etc, can radically alter a particular trail, meaning a new one will simply be established nearby. And as I've found, even if you've been riding there for many years, you can still get lost the very next time you go! But it's a lot of fun, it can be really peaceful and tranquil in spite of its proximity to London, and it's really beautiful, particularly the older forest to the north above Rangers Road, Chingford. But for fast flow, then yes, you really do need a local who rides it regularly. Not me. I always get lost. 😀