The Cotswold Way is a 102-mile long-distance footpath that runs from Bath in the south to Chipping Campden in the north, crossing through some of the most picturesque countryside in England. While the trail is primarily designed for hikers, there are also some fantastic opportunities for mountain bikers to explore the area and take in the stunning scenery. In this blog post, we'll take a look at some of the best mountain bike trails along the length of the Cotswold Way from Bath to Broadway. Bath to Wotton-under-Edge Starting in Bath, the Cotswold Way offers a challenging and scenic ride along ..read more

Swinley Forest on the outskirts of Bracknell in Berkshire is a short distance from the M4 making it easily accessible. It has 24km of purpose built, all weather way-marked mountain bike trails that nestle and follow the forest's natural ebb and flow. There are trails suitable for riders of all levels, from beginners to advanced, family friendly with much more than just the trails on offer. Suitable for all sorts of bikes from hybrid and kids bikes, through gravel and onto mountain bikes there is a trail to suit all. The trails are built from quarried material onsite that allow the trails ..read more

South of the main Cannop trail centre, these are the main most popular off piste trails. Easily accessible from the main trail centre these trails are popular for those exploring from the main trails. Like the trails at Ellwood or Pillowell these aren't groomed, they are more natural in character. The trails vary from flowing single track through bracken to steep technical switchbacks. Most of the trails are accessed from one fire road climb, which connects to the main trail centre. Most of the popular routes are fairly obvious, although some do need a little local knowledge to navigate to. h ..read more

Raven and Gorlech MTB Trails in Wales Brechfa has three trails, the Raven - graded black, although there are no jumps or drops, not for beginners but not beyond reasonably skilled riders. Gorlech is a red graded trail that is made up of three climbs each followed by a descent. You can ride each trail on its own, each having its own starting car park, or you can ride them as one ride. Riding the two trails as one is best done from the start of Raven with Gorlech sitting in the middle of the ride. The ride is 32-36km depending if you complete all of it or shortcut, ti should take around 3-5 hour ..read more

Forest of Dean off piste MTB Mallards Pike is another Forestry Commission site in the Forest of Dean, unlike the trail centre there are no groomed trails here. The trails here are more off piste like the ones over at Ellwood, you can take in those trails as well as these in one day if you desire. This route also takes in some trails over at Pillowell as well, both Mallards and Pillowell have enough trails to entertain you for a decent amount of time. So depending if you like sessions trails or riding more of a route you can do both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWJ5R4J2dcYVideo can't be lo ..read more

This cross country route south of Bath and Bristol takes in the spectacular Pensford Viaduct a Grade II listed disused railway bridge in the village of Pensford within the historic English county of Somerset. The ride is a nice cross country affair meandering across north Somerset between villages. It's a mix of rocky (rubble) descents and climbs, bridleways, fields with road sections lining it all together. The roads sections are mostly quiet back roads with two short main road bits that can be a bit sphincter tightening. Whilst none of the descents are full on Enduro req ..read more

Some of these trails are featured in the Nibley ride, instead of being a route these are more of a series of trails with in a fairly small area. There are three different areas to this location, all are accessible from the main track up to the Tyndale Monument. The first area is to the North of the Tindale monument or off to the left from the top of the climb up from Nibley. These are mainly downhill style trails, with jumps and drops. These are at various levels from roll able to fully committed gap jumps. The second area is to the north of Westridge woods, straight on from the top of the cl ..read more

Top rides in the Cotswolds that stand up to the winter weather, which trails don't turn to bog and slop in the rain. When the clocks roll back and the nights draw in the weather in Britain turns into a seemingly perpetual rain storm. When there is a break in the weather or for those of us who will ride in any weather finding the best trails to ride can be the difference between fun and never again. I've done rides in the wet that have taken an hour and a half to cover distance that normally takes 20 minutes. Some routes and trails stand up well in the wet where as others especially in the Cot ..read more

This Hillesley route is another classic Cotswold Cross country route taking in some stunning countryside. Situated on the Western edge of the Cotswolds near to the Cotswold escarpment, or the Cotswold Edge. South of Wotton-under-Edge this route almost meets the North Nibley route at its northern most point and could easily be extended on to this or even Dursley and Uley. The route is a mix of gravel tracks through the rolling Cotswold hills and rocky descents. The rocky descent from near the Somerset Monument joins the Cotswold way. The climb up to Tresham is classic rolling hills up to and t ..read more

Tintern, just inside the Welsh border a little south of the Redbrook mountain bike route. This ride is of a similar nature to Redbrook which is only a little way further up the Wye valley. Again it is made up of lots of natural trails, plenty of climbing and bundles of Welsh scenery. A mix of loamy single track, loose dusty (weather dependant) shoots and rocky descents. The climbs are fire roads or quiet country lanes and not too difficult, leaving you free to ride the descents. The ride starts in Barbadoes, the woods above Tintern not the caribbean island unfortunately. Single track in the ..read more