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Hi all, looking for a decent Dartmoor loop that ideally doesn’t involve too much schlepping through knee high grass and does involve some long-ish technical descents. I’m a local, but spend most of my riding time smashing around in the woods, so looking to stretch the legs a little.
I’m aware of Lustleigh Cleave but is there anywhere else I should be heading? Has anyone got a nice route/GPX to follow? Happy to ride most of the day and can drive to start/finish.
Ta! Drew.
I'm interested in this too. I always feel like there must be more nice riding on Dartmoor than I've ever found.
I don't have a good loop, but as you say Lustliegh Cleave from North Bovey is obvs nice and seems to be the most highly rated descent around those parts.
The descent from Drewsteignton or Castle Drogo to Fingle Bridge is nice but not technical.
We were recently at the south end of Meldon Reservoir. Seemed to have potential. We walked out and back to Black-a-Tor Copse. Seemed like it could have been a nice ride, but not sure how to make a loop out of it.
Murchington over the Teign up to Kestor/Scorehill is nice. Take the unofficial track along the Teign through Gidleigh for a descent.
Seem to remember the unofficial trails down Meldon Common to Chagford being okay.
dr blackalls isnt particulary technical but its long, fast and rocky in places. can do a number of variants around newbridge/spitchwick. not sure on the access status in ausewell these days but there are some long descents in there.
around burrator is good for a variety of woodsy, rocky tech descents. have a nose around norsworthy plantation and you'll find enough steep tech to keep you going for a while.
widowmaker down from nun's cross to burrator isnt technically hard but its long, rough and brutal. if you can get under ten minutes you're doing well.
Seemed like it could have been a nice ride, but not sure how to make a loop out of it.
depends on your appetite for bog...
Ah yes, I’ve done Widowmaker quite a few times on various bikes (the cross bike was by far the most challenging!).
I’ve got a child-free day pass on Saturday from the wife so hoping for a 40odd KM loop. I’ve got a Nutcracker/Lustleigh loop ready on Komoot but wondering if there’s anything closer to home (Ivybridge) that I could ride to.
I haven’t really explored the Burrator trails (done plenty of road laps though) so that might be a goer...
When I go out with a map I just seen to spend hours following animal tracks over thick grass and bogs!
park in princetown, smash it down the widowmaker. norseworthy is good for a couple of runs, banana trail by the dam will be in prime condition if it hasnt rained much by then. endor in peekhill plantation will probably be good too now the bracken is dying back. either follow the old railway back up or cross over to sheepstor and go up the scout hut descent and back along past nuns cross to princetown.
could always ride there from ivybridge but you'll have to find your way through foxtor mires...
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/cyclist-rescued-infamous-sherlock-holmes-4512592
The best stuff isn't really legit - the rangers take a dim view of riders being off the bridleways.. BUT lots of cheeky stuff on Sheepstor and I think it's called Leather Tor woods (bottom and right of widowmaker)
just checked the map and i actually mean roughtor plantation, just to the NW of sheepstor. norsworthy plantation has bugger all in.
and as for the rangers. been riding the cheeky stuff round here for 15yrs and never had an issue.
red socks now and then but never the rangers.
I’m aware of Lustleigh Cleave but is there anywhere else I should be heading?
If you haven't done a lustleigh loop, then start there, in one place there might be some ferns but the rest will be clear except for the rocks!
There are quite a few extra descents in the vicinity, just depends how much you like earning your descents by pedalling up hills! Extra descents off Easdon Tor, Bowermans, old DH track in Houndtor woods and a descent of Houndtor can all be worked into a bigger Lustleigh loop starting from either the church or houndtor carpark itself.
Fancy a mega loop you can loop Lustleigh/ nutcracker into a loop out past Jays grave and back.
Drop me a message and happy to share my rides where I've ridden the above, all are quite easy to follow.
Dartmoor is a funny place. It's massive and has enough elevation and geology that by rights it should have loads of decent riding.
Instead, Ive found it to be miles of plain moor bashing with occasional good bits.
The good bits are so spread out that you basically end up with a big XC loop and one interesting descent and a few bits of okay singletrack.
As a package, that doesn't really work for me.
its a fair point. i've actually started trail running far moor on dartmoor, I cover ground almost as fast...
Instead, Ive found it to be miles of plain moor bashing with occasional good bits
I’d agree for a lot of the moor but there are some really great descents on interesting loops on the south of the moor around Steps Bridge, Buckland, Cannonteign and Lustleigh and further west in the woods near Sheepstor (as above) as part of a Princetown loop. A lot of this is on bridleways which is obviously not risqué but the rest has been ridden for many years and the rangers don’t seem to have a problem with it when I’ve met them I presume because it’s not exactly heaving with mountain bikers.
A lot of the moor can be a slog fest but you can do a 30+ mile killer loop starting in the cleave. It's bloody ace / hard work / techie in equal measure.
Likewise you can do big day / old school rides that take it all in. Top tip: eight pints and a chicken chilli balti is not the best prep for riding from Tavi back to Bovey the day after.
I’ve obviously got more exploring to do around Sheepstor and the Reservoir. I’ve done the Plymouth, Princetown, Burrator, Pipeline loop but find the widowmaker BW or the one down to the scout hut (now MOD), not much fun on a HT after the first time.
south of the moor around Steps Bridge, Buckland, Cannonteign
Steps Bridge should be avoided - it's very contentious right now as National Trust (I think) don't want bikes at all in that particular spot. Cannonteign is legit (FC and Tim the ranger supports it's use), but there's been a lot of greenlaners and MX bikes there over the last few months and some of the dog walkers are getting aggro at mountain bikers (cos obviously MX and MTB are the same, right?), also been some quite enthusiastic trail destruction/filling in there in the last week or two (cleared as much as we found). But by and large most CT users are cool and the horsey types are all local and on-side. I'm near Bridford so Steps and CT are local spots for me. Never ridden at Buckland - s'it good?
and as for the rangers. been riding the cheeky stuff round here for 15yrs and never had an issue.
To be fair - I've only ever had run ins with them up in the Oakey area. And I was poaching trails I knew I wasn't meant to ride...
I should point out that in regards to Steps, I'm talking about the cheeky stuff - obvs the bridleway is fair game, as are the bridleways and byway over the river in Bridford woods
Buckland – s’it good?
Yes very, but it has the same problems as Steps has at the moment.
ahh - I'll leave it alone then!
also been some quite enthusiastic trail destruction/filling in there in the last week or two (cleared as much as we found)
which trails at Teign and how bad?
but there’s been a lot of greenlaners and MX bikes there over the last few months
when I last went Teign maybe a month ago I could see lots more MX tracks left in the mud than in years before
Ride Report
Route: https://www.komoot.com/tour/185571003
Bike: Ragley Mmmbop Hardtail (150mm fork)
Parking: Swallerton Gate
Got a cracker of a day for it today - cold at the start but clear skies and a fresh breeze the whole way round. Started the ride with a bit of a mare - thought I had saved the GPX to my Garmin properly but clearly hadn't as I went to load it up to be met with a 'no files' message. Bloody brilliant. Ended up navigating from Komoot on my iPhone which meant I had a lot of stopping to check the route at every intersection. Not ideal. Anyway...
The first part of the ride took me down past Jay's Grave and around Grimspound, which had some really enjoyable descending on slabby singletrack but a bit of a routing error meant I did it twice and the way back up was on a really steep narrow chute which meant it was the first hike-a-bike of the day.
Had some really enjoyable bridleway back over towards North Bovey, followed by a road section through the village itself ahead of climbing up a bit of perfect technical singletrack onto Hunter's Tor before dropping into Nutcracker. Nutcracker itself was a really enjoyable run, but soon got very rocky as it dropped down towards Lustleigh and I quickly found myself a bit underbiked and a bit lacking in the skills department which made the bottom half of the descent (and Lustleigh itself) painfully slow in places. When it did open up enough you could really pick up the speed but I soon found myself scrubbing it back off as another rock feature came up. I suppose I did ask for technical!
The slog back from the bottom of Lustleigh was hard work and resulted in more hike-a-bike and a painful chainringing of a rock I thought I could roll but clearly couldn't! Once I hit the bridleway back down from Water the flow was back and there were some great drops and sweeping turns to rail back down - really good section there.
The navigation on the way back proved difficult and I was bonking pretty hard so I bailed out of the last 8km of bridleway and opted for the road back up through Manaton and dropped back down to Jay's Grave to pick the car back up. Thankfully there were loads of blackberries on this bit so I gorged on them to get me back! I definitely didn't take enough food for over 4 hours of riding.
All in all, a great experience and glad I did it, but I still prefer thrashing around in the woods for my trail kicks I think!
which trails at Teign and how bad?
The steeper longer ones that descend to Beadon Brook mainly - but like I said - we cleared them back out. Quite often find branches laid across the entrances to trails in the main cluster that start up by the bunker, normally where they cross the little track (i.e. not the main fire road). A few locals have also mentioned having scary moments dropping into the main line chute after the fireroad to find it full of rocks and branches - not had that personally but always now stall before dropping down, just to be sure!
Also seems like the MX muppets have got bored and gone somewhere else...