[Closed] Whinlatter Forest

I was going to get a group of mates up over that way to camp out and do some routes. Could you spend two days there? Or better to do somewhere else a second day.

a bit repetative for 2 days but defo a full day
i drove from leeds did 2 loops and drove back so it was along day for me but if you live closer go for the day

HT or FS recommended ?
I'm there on Friday 😀

could do on either
i usually ride a ht but have just built up a trak ex9 which was perfect
for me i would nt have ridden it so fast on a ht or tried the jumps and if i went back i would take the trek

The hardtail will be perfect. Its relatively smooth and the full sus (is it some nicolai monster?) will probably be a bit boring.

agree with david - i certainly would nt consider taking my heckler or bullit but full suss xc would be perfect but everyone is different!

TLR - The AM will be waaay too much bike as it's not that technical so take your hardtail unless you're planning something bigger while you're away. It'll be more funner.

cheers men - FWIW it's whinlatter on Friday, Hamsterley on Saturday and Dalby on Sunday.......... 😀

TLR - i would be interested to know what you think of hamsterley, are you doing xc or dh?
dalby is good (i did it friday) and defo a ht for the red
i did the black and although short there were a couple of technical bits and it was very wet

gooner - bear in mind I live in NE Scotland, so am used to big hills and big rock 😀

i do however enjoy the 7 Stanes and other trail centres...

I rode the XC at Hamsters last year - a wee bit bland, but we only looped it once as I was on a schedule.... I'll report back 😀

I think its a great hard tail or short travel full sus route,to get the best out of it I think its best to ride it at a quick pace, and carry as much speed as possible on the flatter twisty sections.It seems to ride and flow better like this,I run tyres at fairly soft pressures, as it has a reputation for being slippery when wet!....well to be honest its slippy in the dry as well. 2.3 maxxis high rollers work well 😉

all imho of course, 🙄 have a good one.

I'm going up from South Manchester on Monday for the day. I was worried it might be too far for what it is but having read this, my enthusiasm is up again.

I think Whinllaters two and a half to three hours from south manchester,but watch out for the yellow scamera vans on the Motorway bridges.and A66 😉

I did it a few weeks ago and thought it was ok, but like a lot of places they just seem to be copying what has gone before. I thought the climbs which seemed to cling to the hillside were great, I think that was the North Loop. A couple of problems were poorly positioned features. One for example was a drop off that was ideal for doing at speed but it was next to a sign telling you to give way for a footpath. I was really enjoying the descent, again I think it was the North loop, very fast and flowing but I felt they spoiled this by putting in the obligatory table tops and a triple. I found it a bit hard to spot these as it was very(unusually for this year)sunny. I also did the blue with my family and we felt the surface of this was a bit rough for beginners. I'd rather have a narrower smooth trail than a wide rough one for beginners, less of an eyesore and more fun. They're not bad trails but if I lived down that way I doubt I'd do any man made stuff. Good cafe and shop though, great views too.

The Hamsterley DH is worth doing if your there. Should be alrite on your hardtail too since its only short and not to rough

I'm getting the train(s) up but thanks for the warning anyway.

You can get to Whinlatter in 2 hours form Manchester comfortably and it's very rare that there are speed cameras on the M6 or the A66.

What I would do is North Loop, South Loop, then climb the South Loop again. When you get to the top, look to your right. You see that big hill up there? Get to the top of that and there's an absolutely mental descent along the side of the wall back into the Forest. You can pedal a fair bit of the last climb, but you'll have to carry/push onto the summit.

They're not bad trails but if I lived down that way I doubt I'd do any man made stuff.

They have their place - when the weather's really bad or for a quick blast, they're ideal 🙂

Get to the top of that and there's an absolutely mental descent along the side of the wall back into the Forest. You can pedal a fair bit of the last climb, but you'll have to carry/push onto the summit.

Time that well though - the climb up Grisedale is a popular footpath...and rather than taking the ridge that the wall follows, take the next ridge to the left (Hobcarton). One of the best descents around 🙂

Live here and ride Whinlatter every so often because it's there - but can't really believe anyone would drive from Leeds or Manchester to ride it!!

I would second that it's slippy in the wet.

Went there while at Center Parcs in March/April. It was pretty good, although as someone already mentioned above some of the technical features seemed a bit weirdly positioned.

Not trying to stir anything here but why would you go to the Lakes home of some of the best riding and then ride around a trail centre?

I passed Whinlatter on the C2C last week. I wanted to fit in a loop, but decided against it after riding one section of boardwalk in the pouring rain with a rucksack on my back!! Definitely want to pay a visit when it's dry though 🙂

i like a blast at a trail centre now and again and don't know any routes in the lakes
at least at a trail centre there is little or no navigation required - that said i did get lost on the dalby black route last friday afternoon!

There isn't actually all that much in the Keswick area of the Lakes, compared with the South Lakes, thats a similar sort of ride to Whinlatter. Theres lots of very good but very extreme mountains you can carry to the top of and race Death Himself off, which isn't the same, and there's lots of short sections of good stuff linked by roads, which isn't the same. It definitely serves a purpose and it is a really good blast.

Hobcarton, do you mean along the ridge to Hobcarton End and off down Black Crag?

anyone from here there on monday lunchtime on a grey 5?

Doesn't take long to get into the Langdales from Keswick though and a map a bit of advice on here will get you some good routes. Just curious that's all, each to their own.

Time that well though - the climb up Grisedale is a popular footpath...and rather than taking the ridge that the wall follows, take the next ridge to the left (Hobcarton). One of the best descents around

Agree with you parkedtiger, far better descent 😉

Hobcarton, do you mean along the ridge to Hobcarton End

That's the fella. You can see a track way off in the distance from the summit - just head towards it and the route quickly appears. Watch out when you hit the tree line and day turns to night 🙁

Odd that I've never done that before, and that you say that it's better than the wall. The wall is bloddy brilliant, so I must be missing out on something special.

I grew up riding from my parents house about 6 miles west of Whinlatter, without a car the trail centre would have been a god send for me if it had been doen before I moved to Manchester. I was just commenting on the area specifically around Whinlatter, if I was travelling up from here I probably wouldn't go past the South Lakes unless I wanted Big Mountain Death, but as trail centres go I think it is very good, despite it's lack of length. I've done both trails in 70 minutes, but it's a very fun-dense 70 mins! I'm lucky that I can ride South Lakes when I travel up to ride and can ride Whinlatter when I visit my parents.

I head down to the Lakes from Stirlingshire for at least a weeks worth of mountainbiking every summer, and because the wife likes the place, and she's driving, we go to Keswick.

Having the Whinlatter trail there just adds another dimension or choice to the trails. This year I rode up Helvellyn and down Sticks Pass one day, I did the Skiddaw / Patterdale loop another and for the first time I had a go at the Whinlatter trail.

I really enjoyed the blast around there, you can just switch off and let the bike go. The North loop's got a bit of Kirroughtree about it, in that it flows nicely and feels quite natural in places with good use of rocky outcrops. It is quite short though. Mind you, what a cracking night ride you'd get there! 8) I wasn't so struck on the shorter Southern loop, it was more exposed, wider and less technical. More of a 'Glentress flavour about it.

I reckon it's a good place for a nasty weather blast. The rain was larrupping down when I was there. I like it, except for that steep bit where you go down a couple of wooden steps into a sharp right hander over the tree roots.......grrrr! I really struggle on tight right handers 😳

B. 😀

The wall is bloddy brilliant, so I must be missing out on something special.

Paul - the wall approximately follows the red line; the other route follows the blue; highly recommended:

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I also agree with PT. We do Hobcarton End a fair bit and its ace. I have only ever come up by the wall and although going down it looks good, we still went down HcE.....
Gav mentioned that there has been some work done in the Dark Dark tunnel (that is the trees) which seems to have improved it. Previously there was a ridge to ride on and when as its dark in there (even in daylight) it was best done using brail!

HARTAIL all the way, it's one of my local trails!! It's such a hoot on the HT I just love it!!

"You can get to Whinlatter in 2 hours form Manchester comfortably and it's very rare that there are speed cameras on the M6 or the A66."

From SOUTH manchester?..I travel the a66 every day and see camera vans either travelling or static,I was advising a carefull and vigilant drive rather than a careless and fast one! 🙄

I went there with the family and had a quick spin as I didn't have time to do a ride with map stops. Did the same at Grizedale. Really wanted to do the Bridleways in the forest but when I weighed up the time I had I thought the North Face loop would be better value. Why have they not added anymore singletrack? The stuff thats there is good but got fed up with all the forest roads.

Cool, cheers. I used to use the forest tracks to get up on tot he ridge below Grisedale Pike, then ride a bit, then push onto the summit, then down the wall, was about an hour, which is good value for a craking descent. Now you've got the trail tere, jump on the South Loop and you can pedal even more of the climb. Will be giving that route down Hobcarton a blast next time!

got back this avo - whinlatter is a blast - like a mini GT black run 😀
extremely slippy, as it was 'damp' on friday.....
you seem to get loads of bang for your buck, but the only disappointment was quite a bit of forest road climb on the north route......

deffo an 8/10 though for a couple of hours of fast blast 😀

Yeah I was there today aswell. Its was quite slippy in some bits but it made it a bit more fun cos I had a really grippy front tire but my rear highroller was just about bald so there was plenty of back wheel drifting moments.

Dont know whether I saw you, I was riding a Dialled Alpine and my friend was on a Yeti dirt jump. We did the north and south loops but it started raining so we went and did the blue run to finish which was reasonably good fun but we minced round with our saddles down so we could enjoy the jumps and berms.