to Forestry Commission home page
to England home page

Deadwater Mountain Bike Trail


(Average user rating5 unrated 4.2/5)

Experience two of the best single track trails in England and some of the best views in Britain. Whether you choose the Deadwater red grade trail or the extremely challenging “Up and Over” black grade trail, you will be taking in the 1,900 foot summit of Deadwater Fell which straddles the English/Scottish border and gives sensational 360° views from coast to coast (on a clear day). The trail plummets from the peak back down to Kielder Castle on specially constructed single track, packed full of features. The first ever full on singletrack within Kielder Water & Forest Park, this trail is difficult and packed with many trail features like technical climbs, rock drop off’s, barmy berms, sweet singletrack and sweeping north shore. Download a trail map.

Overview map of ALL Kielder's 100 miles of trails (download pdf here).

Click here to find out what else you can do in this forest.

How to get there:

Deadwater Mountain Bike Trail can be started from Kielder Castle Forest Park Centre in Kielder which is part of Kielder. Kielder Village near Bellingham is the nearest town or village.

Kielder Castle is situated at the northern end of Kielder Water, off the C200.

OS Grid Reference: NY632934
For details of public transport visit http://www.transportdirect.info

What's on in Kielder

February

  • Nightwatch with Gary Fildes
    Friday 10 February 2012
    Friday 27 April 2012
  • Nordic Walk
    Sunday 12 February 2012
    Sunday 18 March 2012
    Monday 2 April 2012
    Tuesday 10 April 2012
    Sunday 20 May 2012
    Sunday 17 June 2012
    Sunday 8 July 2012
  • 4 x 4 Safari
    Saturday 18 February 2012
    Saturday 31 March 2012
    Saturday 12 May 2012
    Saturday 26 May 2012

March

  • Introduction to Nordic Pole Walking
    Sunday 5 February 2012
    Sunday 4 March 2012
    Sunday 1 April 2012
    Monday 9 April 2012
    Sunday 15 April 2012
    Sunday 13 May 2012
    Sunday 10 June 2012
    Sunday 1 July 2012
  • Nordic Walk
    Sunday 12 February 2012
    Sunday 18 March 2012
    Monday 2 April 2012
    Tuesday 10 April 2012
    Sunday 20 May 2012
    Sunday 17 June 2012
    Sunday 8 July 2012
  • 4 x 4 Safari
    Saturday 18 February 2012
    Saturday 31 March 2012
    Saturday 12 May 2012
    Saturday 26 May 2012
  • Goshawk Walk
    Saturday 10 March 2012
    Saturday 24 March 2012

April

View all events

User Comments

5 Stars 5 Stars

Fantastic trail - don't understand the negative comments below. The long climb to the top of Dead Water is well worth it - stunning views and the d/h is a blast. As of today all the trails were in great condition. It could be longer but there's plenty more nearby - keep looking...

Anonymous, 9/May/2011

Combined all the red routes and the black one in a single outing.Thoroughly enjoyed it.For me it was a breath of fresh air from the 7 stanes trails of which ive been riding for years.The scenery on the bloody bush is excellent and technically the black will keep you switched on.Don`t knock it,its equals some of the 7 stanes.And its quiet!!

racingsnake, 6/Nov/2010
5 Stars 5 Stars

fantastic course and speking to the forrestry commision when i was there was good as there trying to take out the forrest roads (well as much as possible) to create more great trails.i love kielder forrest and can only get better as they improve trails

alan f, 18/Oct/2010
More user comments

Please tell us what you think...

Please email us at kieldercastle@forestry.gsi.gov.uk if you have an enquiry or would like a reply to your comments.

Email addresses will not be shown

Please help us reduce the amount of spam we receive by entering the following characters in upper or lower case without the quotes into the box below: "RII"
 



Cyclists on the new trail up to and around Deadwater

Facilities and Activities

ToiletsParking ChargeInformationParkingEasy AccessVisitor CentreRefreshmentsForest ShopOther Facilities
Cycling

Trail

Grade of trail

Difficult

Trail waymarking

Length of trail

9.5 miles

Approximate time of trail

2 hours

Open or closed

open. Please note the Deadwater Red and Black MTB trails will be closed on Sun 13th Nov until 3pm. This is due to a Northern Downhill event.

Contact

Kielder Castle
01434 250209
e-mail: kieldercastle@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

What's of interest

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: March to May is a particularly sensitive time for farmers as the fields are full of young lambs. It is also bird nesting season and a number of species nest directly on the ground. If you are taking a dog out with you ensure it is under control at all times and on a lead where there is a risk of contact with livestock or when walking on open moorland.

Related pages

Useful sites