The Best Places To Mountain Bike Near London
Although our fantastic capital city cannot offer fantastic mountain biking within the city limits, a stone's throw away from the city gets you to places where you can mountain bike to your heart's content.
Regardless of whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro, you can travel to fantastic mountain bike areas around London.
Swinley Forest, Berkshire
Swinley Forest, located in Bracknell, Berkshire, is a great mountain biking destination that can be reached in just an hour from London. This trail center has plenty of well maintained trails, following the green, blue and red trail difficulty gradings - meaning there’s plenty for all skill levels. There’s a bike hire and repair shop on-site, plenty of parking and a cafe too.
Epping Forest, Essex
Epping Forest is one of the most ancient and historic woodlands in the UK, and it’s home to plenty of mountain bike trails. There’s plenty of routes to mountain bike on, from gentle trails across to challenging singletrack. There’s also plenty of parking spaces, and plenty of local pubs and cafes to eat in.
Surrey Hills, Surrey
The Surrey Hills are an area of outstanding natural beauty, and are south west of London. This area really is beautiful and there’s some fantastic mountain bike routes and trails to suit all different capabilities and wants. One of the most advanced trails is known as Pitch Hill and this hill has plenty of steep descents and challenging features, which even the most experienced mountain bike riders can enjoy.
The Surrey Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is located southwest of London and boasts some of the most scenic and diverse mountain biking trails in the region. For those looking to take the family out and explore the area, there’s also plenty of gentle trails and guided trails available.
Aston Hill Bike Park, Buckinghamshire
Aston Hill Bike Park is in the Chiltern Hills and is a dedicated mountain bike trail center, which has been specifically designed to cater for all skill levels. There’s plenty of beginner trails, but one of our favorite aspects of this park is the XC loop, which has a mixture of climbs and descents with plenty of obstacles to negotiate. There’s also fast and steep downhill trails for the downhill riders amongst us.