Blog Post

Biking at Sherwood Pines

Mick C • 24 September 2021

What’s on offer at Sherwood Pines?

Living in the heart of Nottinghamshire does have its benefits. There is lots of woodland to explore just like Robin Hood did back in the day. One of the best areas to explore on the bike is Sherwood Pines. With its high growing pines and woodland floor, it can be a magical place, especially when the sun is blazing through the trees.

To access Sherwood Pines by car the entrance is just off the B6030 near Edwinstowe. As soon as you enter you are greeted with a winding road and the tall pines that can be found throughout the forest. You are taken to the heart of the visitor’s centre where there is ample parking unless you are unlucky to land on a bank holiday or school holiday, when the car park can be overflowing. This isn’t the only entrance though if you are already on the bike, as I often am. Route 6passes through Sherwood pines so there is an entrance on the blidworth side, to the south, and on the Clipstone side, on the north west side. Even from the A614 near Bilsthorpe you can enter via a trail from the Lime tree café. I’m sure there are many other trails that enter and pass through the Forest that I haven’t come across yet.

One of the best things about having so many options is that you can link trails to some of the centres close by. The closest link is probably centre parcs which is next door. The Centre parcs road entrance branches right halfway in and leads directly into the Sherwood Pines visitor centre (by foot or bike). So, if you stay at centre parcs and hire bikes to get around don’t think you are limited just to Centre parcs. It really is only a short hop to taste the biking trails in Sherwood pines, and you don’t even have to touch a road which is ideal for families.

The next forest along is Sherwood Forest itself just on the other side of Edwinstowe. Here you can sample the joys of Robin Hood by seeing the ‘Major Oak’ where he lived. This is accessible along route 6 within 2 to 3 miles. If you want to go further afield route 6 continues through to Clumber Parkwith its stunning lake. A similar distance away but less accessible by bike is Thorsby Hall and its grounds. Now a converted hotel it has plenty of tarmacked traffic free lanes to explore. On the opposite side of Sherwood Pines just across the A614 from Centre parcs is Rufford Abbey, where you can explore the old buildings, visit the new kids park, or walk round the lake. You will have to lock your bike up or walk round with it as biking isn’t allowed inside. Much further a field on the same side of Sherwood Pines is Newstead Abbey. It’s about 8-9 miles along Route 6 which is traffic free apart from crossing a few roads and passing through a housing estate. The Abbey has some amazing grounds to explore. Alternatively, and a lot closer on the Clipstone side of Sherwood Pines is Vicar’s water a smaller lake but easy to get to and ideal for families with smaller kids who just want to do a mile or so.

Inside Sherwood Pines there is plenty of biking to keep you busy, from families with smaller children through to the intermediate mountain biker. There are three made trails with varying difficulty, the green route being the easiest, flattest at 3 miles long, the blue route for those wanting a bit more of a challenge with some sweeping turns and bigger gradients at 6 miles long. Then for the intermediate mountain biker there is the red route, or the ‘Kitchener trail’ which is designed to challenge the off-road rider with sweeping corners, bumps, sharp gradients and uneven surfaces. When I bike to or through Sherwood Pines I always build in a section or two of the red route. One of my most visited sections is Tornado Alley.

The Green Route:

At 3 miles long this is a lovely gentle loop of Sherwood Pines with plenty of places to stop and have a picnic. It is even suitable for the really young children who have just started out on single speed bikes and haven’t yet progressed to gears. There has been plenty of times when my kids were little that we had an afternoon at Sherwood Pines to do the green route. Just a small note there is a little climb about ¾ of a mile from the start. It is gentle and on a fire road but build in a little bit of time for the really young children. There are about 21 signposts along the way so getting lost on the route is exceedingly difficult. The start is between the car park and the café first going around the grassed area of the visitors’ centre. The route is pretty much a square from that point with a few left and rights from fire roads to forest trails.

The Blue Route:

At 6 miles long this is a trickier route for families and really is aimed at children confident on their bikes. Gears are recommended but it is still doable on a single speed bike with some effort. A few years ago, I would’ve said apart from the obvious length difference the only other difference to the green route is the gradient and narrower sections. However last year some improvements have been made and it really is a halfway house between the green route and the red route. I must say the changes definitely are for the better. There is a lovely new winding stone section that twists left and right with a downhill trend. It really does add a little excitement to the route.

The start of the route follows the green route from the visitor’s centre for about half a mile until you reach a fork in the trail which is well signposted. Green goes left and blue goes right. It cuts through trees and you cross the fire road straight into the new section which takes you to the edge of Sherwood Pines. As you hit the edge you go left and down a fast steep forest section which then climbs back up. Keeping some speed, you can get halfway up without any effort. You eventually reach the bridge that route 6 passes through to leave Sherwood Pines. However, the blue route doesn’t leave you veer left again and go parallel to the red route for a short while, with a few dips and climbs to negotiate. Then the route follows the edge of the forest taking a another sweeping left where you cross route 6 again but on a different section. After about 1km it’s left back towards the pines café where you complete a couple of left and rights on and off fire roads until you re-join the last sections of the green route which take you back into the Pines activity centre next to the carpark and café.

The Red Route:

At 8 miles long this is definitely for the intermediate biker. It has swinging corners, bumpy sections, rocks, sharp turns and some short climbs and descents. It has recently been updated and I’ve got to say made some excellent improvements. Around two thirds in, there used to be a bit of a lull in the trail, where it got monotonous, even close to boring. Now it has been spruced up to include a better surface, rocky sections, some little drop offs to negotiate, just things creating more interest. My two favourite sections are definitely the start section and ‘Tornado Alley’ with ‘Death Valley’ not far behind. The start of the red route is tricky to find as it is on the opposite side of the car park to the café. After the first section it crosses the entrance road and you negotiate the trees closest to Centre Parcs. This is great in the Autumn sun as it shines through the trees and makes the leaf covered ground glisten.

You then head back into the main pines and go in the reverse direction to the green and blue route moving in and out of trees only crossing fire roads as each section passes into the next. After exiting ‘Tornado Alley’ the trail swings back around and you head back in the direction of the car park. ‘Tornado Alley’ is section 11 of 16 so you are well onto the last quarter of the trail at this stage. The last quarter is very entertaining. It has some lovely fast sweeping sections mixed with straight quick trails. When you start hearing walkers on the other side of the brambles you know you are nearly at the end. The exit to the trail leads you straight to the cycle shop. Overall, it is a great trail, the one thing I do love about it is when it is sunny the rays’ blazes through the gaps in the pine trees and you can track your shadow on the floor as you sweep around corners, visually brilliant.

Other activities:

Once you and the family are all cycled out there are plenty of other activities to do. Obviously, the café and bike shop are there to help you relax. The café has a cracking veranda to sit on and look across the centre. After some food you can safely climb the trees on the skyline walk or you can venture out on a Segway with a guided tour around the forest. If you still feel very energetic there is a trail run to have a go at. For the kids there is a Gruffalo trail, a new park near the café and other smaller parks scattered around.

The best thing I recommend is bring your family, picnic and bikes, set up for the day on the grass, play Frisbee, ride your bikes, go for a walk and check out the centre. There are plenty of days a group of us have set up for the whole day and done just that. There is nothing better on a summer day.

Whatever you decide to do at Sherwood Pines…enjoy!!!