Whinlatter

Whinlatter Forest Park is one the most exciting places to Mountain bike in Northern England. The Forestry Commission have been one of the few public land agencies to put the interests of extreme sports fans FIRST! With two defined routes the Whinlatter park has caterterd for a higher level of Mountain Biker. A Blue route, 7.5km of stunning single track with some technical obstacles as well as some painful hills to get you out of the saddle. Up from this, a 19 km Red route with some black route options marked aptly with a skull and cross bones.

Its not just Mountain Biking that draws the crowds. There are designated walking routes as well as an Alpine Cafe to be enjoyed by all visitors to the park. The ‘Go Ape’ course is perhaps as popular as the Mountain Biking at Whinlatter. ‘Go Ape’ is an obstacle high rope course made about 40 ft up in the trees that had zip lines, rope swings and high wire walks.

The forestry Commission has made some tremendous investment is sites like Whinlatter, often with the help of sponsors. Whinlatters Red Route is sponsored by Altura, a Mountain Biking brand that have have invested alot of time an money into really pushing the profile of Whinlatter. The cost has been about £1/2 million stabilizing 12 existing jobs and creating 10 more. The site was built by Hugh Clixby who has also built trails in Dalby, North Yorkshire and Cannock Forest in the West Midlands.

Whinlatter has the longest purpose built mountain bike track in the Lake District, England. Featuring two trails; the red graded Altura sponsored track and the Quercus Trail, a blue graded route.

The Quercus route is 7.5 km of intermediate skilled riding with berms and rock paving for the braver rider, but with easy routes around these features. Whinlatter has built its self a reputation amongst mountain bikers for the stunning single track and technical downhill. However, the Whinlatter Quercus trail is an awesome introduction to a more technical ride with the option to get as involved as you like in the trail. With some serious climbs to get the legs warmed up, the rider is also confronted with high banked berms and wood bridges.

Whinlatter’s Red Route, Altura, is a purpose built track 1600 foot over Keswick. The route professes to be a 19km route with a stunning 15 km of single track. This route is not for beginners with good off road skills and a high level of fitness and stamina needed to attempt the features and tougher sections of the course.

There is a North and South route available on Whinlatters Altura trail so a rider can attempt them separately or join them up.

Some of the most stunning single track in the North of England is situated in Cumbria, England at Whinlatter, 500m above keswick. The Whinlatter area is Forestry Commission run and caters for Mountain Bikers in a welcoming way not often seen by publicly run National parks.

There is a visitor centre, and like most new Forestry visitor centres it is well run and offers several different activities. As well as an alpine style café to keep the active visitors fed, it also has a bike hire shop as well as activities run the by rangers. Whinlatter, although home to some serious red and blue route mountain bike single track also has a day out for the hiker, walker, bird enthusiast and thrill seeker.

For the Whinlatter thrill seeker that doesn’t have a bike – a ‘Go Ape’ course is available which is at many forestry commision sites where Mountain Biking and other sports are undertaken. The course is a combination of zip lines, wire walks, rope climbs and big swings, all from about 40 foot up in the trees.

The café is open all year round but closes a little early in the Winter months. With stunning views of Lake District Mountains, Keswick and Bassenthwaite lake, Whinlatter well worth a visit this summer, what ever activity you do or want to try.

View Larger Map