to Forestry Commission home page
to England home page

Red Cycle Trail


(Average user rating4 unrated 3.1/5)

About Red Cycle Trail

Starting on the forest drive from the visitor centre, turn left after the play park, then right after crossing the river to follow the Gove link. After the Grove house the trail turns left over the stone bridge then first right up the track to the Descend down- hill facility. At the cabin turn right along a forest road, which leads to a single track section with a ford, before descending to Blackling hole. From here the Red route heads up to the top edge of the forest overlooking Eggleston Moor then returns to the Grove via the Euden beck. Most of this section is on forest roads. From the Grove the Forest drive takes you back to the visitor centre. This trail is graded red because it is long with a lot of hills and is mostly at a low technical grade. It is a good trail to do if you want exercise and superb views.

Download a trail map.

How to get there:

Red Cycle Trail can be started from Hamsterley Forest Visitor Centre in Hamsterley. Hamsterley, Witton-le Wear, Wolsingham, Bishop Auckland, and Durham are the nearest towns or villages.

Turn right in Hamsterley village following the brown tourist signs, turn left in hamlet of Bedburn to enter the forest and access the forest drive and car parks. The charge is GBP 3 per car (GBP 5 on bank holiday weekends), GBP 8 minibus and GBP 12 coach.

OS Grid Reference: NZ092312
For details of public transport visit http://www.transportdirect.info

What's on in Hamsterley

May

  • Female Evening Ride
    Monday 16 April 2012
    Monday 30 April 2012
    Monday 14 May 2012
    Monday 28 May 2012
    Monday 11 June 2012
    Monday 25 June 2012
    Monday 9 July 2012
    Monday 23 July 2012
    Monday 6 August 2012
    Monday 20 August 2012
    Monday 10 September 2012

June

  • Monthly Club Ride
    Sunday 12 February 2012
    Sunday 11 March 2012
    Sunday 8 April 2012
    Sunday 10 June 2012
    Sunday 8 July 2012
    Sunday 12 August 2012
    Sunday 14 October 2012
    Sunday 11 November 2012
    Sunday 9 December 2012
    Sunday 13 May 2012
  • Trailbuilding Session
    Saturday 18 February 2012
    Saturday 17 March 2012
    Saturday 14 April 2012
    Saturday 19 May 2012
    Saturday 16 June 2012
    Saturday 14 July 2012
    Saturday 18 August 2012
    Saturday 15 September 2012
    Saturday 20 October 2012
    Saturday 17 November 2012
    Saturday 15 December 2012
  • Family Bushcrafts
    Monday 9 April 2012
    Sunday 17 June 2012
    Sunday 19 August 2012
  • Female Evening Ride
    Monday 16 April 2012
    Monday 30 April 2012
    Monday 14 May 2012
    Monday 28 May 2012
    Monday 11 June 2012
    Monday 25 June 2012
    Monday 9 July 2012
    Monday 23 July 2012
    Monday 6 August 2012
    Monday 20 August 2012
    Monday 10 September 2012
  • An introduction to willow weaving
    Sunday 24 June 2012

July

  • Monthly Club Ride
    Sunday 12 February 2012
    Sunday 11 March 2012
    Sunday 8 April 2012
    Sunday 10 June 2012
    Sunday 8 July 2012
    Sunday 12 August 2012
    Sunday 14 October 2012
    Sunday 11 November 2012
    Sunday 9 December 2012
    Sunday 13 May 2012
  • Trailbuilding Session
    Saturday 18 February 2012
    Saturday 17 March 2012
    Saturday 14 April 2012
    Saturday 19 May 2012
    Saturday 16 June 2012
    Saturday 14 July 2012
    Saturday 18 August 2012
    Saturday 15 September 2012
    Saturday 20 October 2012
    Saturday 17 November 2012
    Saturday 15 December 2012
  • Female Evening Ride
    Monday 16 April 2012
    Monday 30 April 2012
    Monday 14 May 2012
    Monday 28 May 2012
    Monday 11 June 2012
    Monday 25 June 2012
    Monday 9 July 2012
    Monday 23 July 2012
    Monday 6 August 2012
    Monday 20 August 2012
    Monday 10 September 2012
  • Become Nature Detectives; find the hidden wildlife
    Sunday 8 July 2012
  • Discover the secret life of the forest
    Sunday 22 July 2012
  • Den Building
    Tuesday 24 July 2012
    Wednesday 22 August 2012
View all events
3rd leg - Step drop and option

Hamsterley Forest Visitor Centre Facilities.
ToiletsInformationParkingEasy AccessVisitor CentreRefreshmentsForest ShopOther Facilities
Grade of trail:
Difficult
Trail waymarking:
red
Length of trail:
14 miles
Approximate time of trail:
2 hrs
Open or closed:
open . . Please note that on Sat & Sun 26th and 27th May this route will be closed for a race.
Click here to find out what else you can do in this forest.

Contact:

Hamsterley Forest


e-mail: enquiries.hamsterley@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

User Comments

How Much does it cost to hire the bikes?

Mike, 25/Mar/2012
4 Stars 4 Stars

Rode the red route on 8th Jan 2012 and the man made sections are excellent. Unfortunately there is a lot of boring forest roads and climbs to get there for 5 minutes of decent single track.

Graham, 9/Jan/2012
5 Stars 5 Stars

Rode the full red route once on the 2nd August. Lots of fire roads, but the man made single track was spot on. No ruts or braking bumps. Ace flowing tracks with plenty of challenges for those that know the trails. The climbs were quite long at times with a long decent on a fire track before the last section of single track, which is ace. However, my 10 year old son, who rides clipped in, cleaned all the climbs with no dabs! If you can■t ride the ascents on this red run you need to do some more riding :-) We loved it - wished we had time for a second lap. The only minus points would be the relatively dull climbs and the long distance between the quality man made sections. Well worth a visit.

Shaun Gelling, 5/Aug/2011
More user comments

Please tell us what you think...

Please email us at enquiries.hamsterley@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: "PNP"