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Considering doing Cannock Chase on Sunday, never been before. I would be getting train from Euston. Is the best stop Rugely Trent Valley and cycle from there ?. Any suggestions for 1st timer ? How far from station ?
thanks
nope. iiwy get the train to Rugeley town and cycle down the A460 Hednesford road to the start of the monkey trail, Google maps reckons 2.5 miles. Cannock is basically one big trail split into two, the dog and the monkey, they intersect at that point. You can choose to crawl up the hill & start with the dog or start with the monkey. The monkey is for more experienced riders as it's a lot more technical. Allow 2.5-3 hrs for a first timer so you'll have time to do it twice if you want. iiwy I'd come up Saturday, stay over & do it twice. There'll be loads up on a Sunday.
Its no more than 3 miles to the trail centre, you'l be fine on the Dog and Monkey.
cycle down the A460 Hednesford road to the start of the monkey trail
Careful on that road. Blummin fast cars.
I'd say do the monkey. It's more interesting.
thanks for replies, much appreciated. Looking forward to it.
There's s path on the left side of the road. Ride on that instead!
You can get off the train are Hednesford and ride off road to marquis drive down the heritage trail.
Not sure what you like but might also be worth the short ride for a play up Stile Cop.
Hednesford then along to Maquis Drive was the way I always went when I was a student in Brum in the late '90s/early '00s. Can't imagine it's much different. Wuss a nice warm up & it takes you onto one of the waymarked trails now just after the Maquis Drive visitors centre iirc.
Usually dirt cheap fares on that Euston line. Picked a mate up before at rugely station. It's literally a 5 min drive to the hub. Mostly uphill though...
Change at Birmingham and go to Hednesford. It is the closest station with easiest access as mentioned earlier.
Get off at RUGELEY town.
Ride along the side of the A460.
Drop down left (signposted slitting mill).
Under the bridge,first left through the forestry barrier.
300m take a left you're on follow the dog.
Enjoy!
lots of options, Prawny is local so I'd listen to him perhaps. I live 30 mins away and was just looking at a map. Both options are viable! When you get to Marquis drive it won't be clear where the trail is so ask any person sitting on a bike, there will be many. You'll have a nice little run through the campsite before hitting an excellent piece of singletrack.....
another tip: when you finish lower cliff (on the monkey), just turn left up the fireroad and do it again, it literally takes about 12 minutes of steady climbing to get back to the top, it's no effort at all.
If it's quicker to get a train to Trent Valley I'd just do that; it's a few minutes further from the trails by bike, but if it means you don't have to faff around on the slow Rugeley Town line it'll probably still be quicker. From the middle of Rugeley there's a cycle path to Birches Valley and the start of the Dog.
how'd you get on Coconut?