Gisburn Forest in North Lancashire on the edge of the Forest of Bowland contains 2 mountain bike trails; the red graded 17km outing known as "The 8" which I rode recently, and the easier 9.5km blue graded Bottoms Beck Trail which makes up the lower loop of the figure of eight shape that gives the red trail its name. Today saw me back at Gisburn with my 12 year old son, Josh who han't been on the bike for a couple of months so giving a good reason to try the blue trail.
We rode out of the car park at Cocklett Hill - where both trails start - along the link path to turn left on the trail proper. A wide forest path led easily downhill between the trees - both trails co-existing for a short distance - before the red arrows branch off on singletrack up into the woods to the right. That first short red section has no difficulties if you fancy it but we kept to the blue route which followed a wide track then a woodland path past where the trails met up again and along a short road section beside the Stocks Reservoir.
Back into the forest on the right and we now climbed steadilyon a surface that became rough for a while into an open valley where once again the routes parted company. Just as you approach what looks like a big climb, the blue arrows point right along a nearly level path known as the Old Railway. If you're doing "The 8" it's straight on up the hill - there's more to come too!
The Old Railway section is a very pleasant pathway suitable for family rides and it meanders through woodland before meeting the other trail coming down from the left. Here there is another opportunity to try a short technical section over a small bridge. It's nothing too scary unless you go on the black grade boardwalks - boards and wooden bridges with a few obstacles parallel to the gravel forest road. The choice is yours!
This time though we stayed on the forest road and overtook 3 other bikes going up the hill - the biggest climb on the Bottoms Beck Route - before stopping for water at the junction just past the farmhouse where the trail forks again. Left here for the more challenging (but fun!) half of "The 8" and straight on for home.
Now - do I look like someone who knows where he's going, because when I'm out walking in the hills, I almost always get asked for directions. Here this good tradition was kept up by a guy who rode up to us while we drank from our water bottles. Seems he'd ridden into the forest on a side road and didn't know where he'd come in so as a consequence didn't know the way out either. This gave me visions of cyclists riding round and round the trails unable to find their way out of the forest - well I suppose it can look kind of similar!
The directions - blue and red arrows for the bike trails and coloured marks on posts for the walks - are easy to follow but they do direct you around from and to the trailhead or start point which in this case was Cocklett Hill which isn't ideal if that's not where you want to go. For those entering by unmarked forest roads, themarker posts are usually numbered and a free map from the internet shows the location of these. We saw this guy again where our route turned right off the forest road and his carried on along it. I think he found his way out!
The arrows - now both blue and red - soon directed us off the wide trail and back onto singletrack which here was a proper mountain bike trail with steep winding turns, big bumps andshort but steep climbs and descents. This section ended with some boards which were fairly wide but the water underneath remained a good incentive not to fall off and then we emerged back onto the forest road.
A short ascent as a light rain began to fall led to a faster downhill before we branched left along a meadow path that led back into the woods on a smoother surface than the previous singletrack before the highlight of the route. The finish is a smooth constructed trail with banking on the turns enabling a fast fun descent to round off the day. The track then bears left straight onto the link path towards the car park, ensuring that the navigationally challenged don't end up going round again.
Pete Buckley October 2010
Essentials >>> How Far? 9.5km/6 miles >>> What's it like? Forest Roads and some singletrack (blue grade MTB trail) >>> Start and finish at Cocklet Hill car park, Gisburn Forest
Follow this link for the Gisburn Red Trail
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