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I'm thinking of heading to one one of these next. Anyone have any preference of one over the other or can shed any insight on what to expect would be great.
Never heard of stanmer. Looking at the map its brighton, so quite a way from me.
Depends on what sort of riding you like. I think qecp is quite savage with the climbing. I really enjoy the 4 or so enduro trails there though rather than the waymarked trails, although its unlikely you will find them without local knowledge.
Same with stanmer, you'll need local knowledge or to hook up with someone whilst your there to get the most from the trails.
This year's Big Dog course at Stanmer was brilliant. Tough short/sharp climbs and lots of singletrack. Unmarked, so you will need a gps or local knowledge. I suspect it's tough in the wet though. QECP has waymarked trails in addition to off-piste stuff. The blue is fairly all-weather, but the red can suffer a bit in the wet. Both venues pack a lot of climbing in and both are really good fun.
I think qecp is quite [b]savage[/b] with the climbing
In a Dutch sort of way perhaps 😉 Its Hampshire not the Lakes, Wales or Scotland.
The beauty of Stanmer park is it is so compact. Just go up on one of the bridleways that run through it, pick off a trail and just ride following your nose. You’ll need to remember that none of the trials (like surrey hills) are sanctioned so beware of walkers and other users.
The Red & Blue trails at QE are pretty good fun but the descents have to be earned. That said, there's only 900 feet of vertical ascent in the Red trail so it's not exactly the Tourmalet!
It's riding really well at the moment, although a teeny bit of rain may help some of it firm up a bit. Can be slippy in the wet but it's not as bad as it was years ago, simply because the trails are used so much more there's none of the old green chalk of doom left on them.
QECP does make you work for the height though!! It's lots of short sharp climbs rather than a lakes two hour slog! Also depends of where you're coming from, I'd not fancy trying to get to Brighton on a BH weekend.