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staying at ladybower for a week, wondering what the best/most difficult trails are. thanks
if you do your homework some of the best riding in the country is along the shores of Ladybower.
get to the top of Win Hill drop towards the north and explore.
as above Win Hill and just explore there are some serious trails up there
How do you get to the top of Win Hill on a bike? We've only been up and foot and it looks er, challenging. We usually park on the road next to the Fisheries.
... just keep in mind Win Hill is not kosher as it is without BW access.
If you really want to poach in The Peaks avoid weekends as it is very busy. Especially now...
Cheers!
I.
The legal trails around there are The Beast, Potato/Spud Alley, Lockerbrook and Winston Lee Tor in both directions. Venture a bit further afield and there's loads more.
is it clear where the mtb trails from the top are, just to ensure i dont end up going down a boring footpath with loads of walkers.
The trails don’t start from the very top of Win Hill generally, and as others have pointed out, there are no official trails off the top anyway so you’ll need to decide if you want to ride there with the plethora of walkers you’ll get on there.
The trails on the north side in my limited experience generally drop from double track trails of the forestry type.
It also very much depends if you want to loop the same sections of hillside or rather do a more traditional set of rides each day.
A little further afield, but easily rideable from Ladybower you have trails in Edale such as the ones dropping from Hollins Cross, Rushup Edge, Cave Dale/Mam Tor loops, Bradwell Edge, Stanage Plantation. The list goes on and all excellent.
is it clear where the mtb trails from the top are, just to ensure i dont end up going down a boring footpath with loads of walkers.
No, they're all pretty hard to find without a trail map / GPX. But there are not many footpaths and that bit of woodland is not massively busy at the weekends (compared with, say, Lockerbrook). Ie if you can find a trail you won’t run into walkers.
You can get to the very top of Win Hill from the west easily enough but the tech trails don’t require you to do that (good views but probably not one for a weekend daytime).
There’s also loads of other good riding near there in Hope Valley, Stanage, Derwent Edge etc.
Judging from what I can see on YouTube I'd be happy with a day of skidding around on that northern edge I think. It's ages since I've done any push up, DH style arsing around. I don't always want to do a mega loop.
If I rode along the water from the plug hole would I spot any trails on my left? Is there an easy way to the top of them to facilitate some laps? Or just pick a trail and hike up?
If I rode along the water from the plug hole would I spot any trails on my left? Is there an easy way to the top of them to facilitate some laps? Or just pick a trail and hike up?
Yes. There’s a trail which comes out within a stones throw of the plug hole. Run down it countless times, it loosely follows the wall line shown on the OS map heading from Parkin Clough north east past the 205 marker on the map.
I'd recommend getting the dark peak trail book from vertibier publishing.
The unofficial stuff off Win Hill is up there with Macc Forest and Upper Goyt Valley as the best in the peaks. Not easy and as different to trail centre riding as you get. Very steep in places, some sizeable gap jumps and drops, takes commitment and skill to ride well in the wet!
Parkin Clough and Doctors Gate are brutal and I believe (never ridden it) there's a FP off them two hills that look like a pair of tits opposite Win Hill, which I've heard is one of the hardest rideable trails in the Peak District!
There's two trails at the split when it goes into the woods, they take (in the video) the right hand line, I prefer the left hand one with the drop!
And this boom you're sorted.
+1 for the Vertebrate guide. It’s actually very good if you’re not familiar with the area...
holy shit, that last video - we rode that trail a couple of months ago - was still one of the scariest things ive ridden even in the the bone dry!!! (the one about 7mins in...)
Oh also, Peak District MTB and Ride Sheffield put loads of effort into advocacy work. So please don't go undoing all their good work by riding a load of footpaths.
Yes I know the rules are stupid and it's your choice, but if this is your first visit then there are plenty of legitimate trails/bridleways to ride.
http://peakdistrictmtb.org/earth-cheeky-riding/
http://www.ridesheffield.org.uk/walkers-and-mountain-bikers/
Parkin Clough
Ohhh... That is BRUTAL one. Only walked it up once. At the bottom I though: "Tough, but doable".
And then I changed my mind half way up...
And it is poaching of course...
Cheers!
I.