It's easy to mix and match the trails at the Forest of Dean - and if you follow your nose, you can find almost limitless singletrack weaving around the woods.
For our Decathlon Route, we first pick up the red-graded Freeminer's Trail and head out of the centre, past the pump track - always good for a few warm up laps - and then start climbing upwards, first on the fireroad, then into the woods for some wiggly and - if it's wet - actually quite tricky singletrack.
The climb is broken up by a few small descending sections with the odd jump here and there, but it's a brisk warm up with some really quite steep hauls up to the top, where you pop out onto fireroad once again. Once there, take the downhill over the first fireroad crossing but at the second fireroad crossing, take a sharpleft hand turn and pick up the blue Freeminer's Trail.
We then keep following the blue Freeminer's Trail trail all the way until we find ourselves at the top of of the downhill trails area. It's here that you can then have the option of doing the conventional red-graded bottom descent or opting for something a little more spicy.
We'd suggest you veer off here and, if you like a bit of air-time, sample the GBU trail, which winds all the way back to the visitor centre with some big jumps, drops and gaps to be had. If you prefer keeping your wheels on the ground, then Sheepskull offers some really cool rooty sections along with some excellent corners and drops.
Once you're down at the bottom, if you've still got a bit of go in you, we reccommend a few laps of the skills area before retiring to the centre for a well earned drink and bit of food.
The Forest of Dean
Trails at this centre
