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I am going up to Scotland at the start of the holidays and on the way might stop off at either whinlatter or Cannock chase. I have done the North loop at whinlatter before (and really enjoyed it) but have never been to CC. Where do you think I should go and what trails should I do?
Thanks!
Bit of a detaour but Whinalltter from the last time I rode it is just good fun and easy to enjoy gets my vote of the 2
Hit grizedale for a mix of trail centre and natural? Or do the Kentmere loop for some great natural riding. Closer the motorway as well.
Ridden both quite a few times. For sheer big mountain-esque fun I'd go Whinlatter. Particularly if you do both loops. Even more if you turn off juuuust before the end of the climb on the South loop and ride/push/carry up the ridge of Grisedale Pike before coming back down the other ridge (to bottom of South climb). Hair raising stuff and a great ride..
The scenery at Whinlatter is far more EPIC than at Cannock but the Chase is far closer to the M6. If you have the time then Whinlatter.
At this time of year Cannock is blown out berms full of braking bumps and death gravel everywhere, though the monkey is less so than the dog.
At this time of year Cannock is blown out berms full of braking bumps and death gravel everywhere, though the monkey is less so than the dog.
That isn't limited to this time of year, I was there last night and it's bumpy as hell and very very dusty and gravel everywhere, inside of corners, outside of corners, all over climbs
Whinlatter if it were me
Whinlatter. Keswick is beautiful.
Having ridden both I'll happily never go back to cannock chase. (I know there's probably some epic stuff known only to the locals but....)
So whinlatter for the win.
Depending on where in Scotland there might be a couple of places up that way.
Drumlanrig?
Yeah Whinlatter every time *cough*
I might not have time to do both loops at Whinlatter so which one should I start on in case I can't do the other? Thank you for all your replies, I probably will go to whinlatter
Good call funkrodent one on the to do list.
If you're that tight for time then I'd probably not bother with Winlatter (even though it's my favourite of the two). It's 30+ mins drive (each way) from the motorway, and you can do both loops in a couple of hours, so it hardly seems worth the extra hour of driving for an hour of riding (if you only do 1 loop).
I prefer north loop - great final descent to finish on...
North is a bit more techy but if pushed for time then start on the blue, follow the signs for the extended blue and it leads onto the south. What you should really is make time to do both. Just arrive at your destination 40 mins later.
I rode Whinlatter last summer and thought it would be a good trail to ride as a bonus ride on a travel day, the first afternoon of a 3 day Lakes trip maybe. Not a "destination" though.
Cannock (which I ride regularly) is close to the M6 and I think the Dog & Monkey combo is great riding. I quite like the braking troughs as it adds a bit of challenge. If the weather is like it has been recently it's a great blast. If you park at Marquis Drive cafe you can go straight down to the Monkey (or take a diversion down Big John's trail) do a lap and then come back up on the ascent on Follow the Dog. If you haven't time for both it saves time and parking fees.
It takes less than 90 minutes to do both loops if you get on with it.
Neither
As Forrest if you want a trail centre
I just got back from Scotland and I rode kirroughtree, mabie and ae. I liked all of them, but mabie was my favourite and I definitely recommend it. The ae line had great bits but the final descent (omega man) was highly overrated. I really liked the rocky twister trail at kirroughtree but preferred the phoenix trail at mabie because it was so fun to ride.