This weekend is Easter, the kids are off school and the summer is on its way, so we thought we would share our experience of the local area to give you some recommendations for trail centres and riding spots which have younger riders in mind. 

All of the facilities listed are best suited to young riders who can ride without stabilisers and have basic bike control. 

Hicks Lodge, Swadlincote  

Hicks Lodge is a former coal mining site that has been totally transformed by new plantings and exciting trails for you to enjoy.
From tearaway toddlers getting their first taste of cycling, young teens perfecting their bike skills or families walking the dog, we’ve got a great day out just waiting for you.

​The trails here are all graded blue, there's nothing technically difficult and the hills are not too bad either, its a great place to introduce children into their first experience of proper mountain biking.

There's good parking and a small bike shop for repairs and spares etc, and a great Cafe. 

Sandwell Valley MTB 

Cycling in Sandwell Valley If you're looking for somewhere to go for a family bike ride, Sandwell Valley Country Park is a great place to visit. As well as a range of surfaced and unsurfaced tracks, there is a fantastic mountain bike trail and also a pump track.
Part of the Sustrans National Cycle Network (Route No.5) runs through Sandwell Valley Country Park - providing an ideal route for families with young children to ride on surfaced tracks through pleasant surroundings.
Bike hire and shopIf you’d like to cycle around Sandwell Valley but don’t have a bike, you can hire one from Valley Cycles which you can find opposite our High Ropes Course. If you decide to bring your own bike and you need some help fixing it, Valley Cycles also do repairs.
Visit the Valley Cycles website for further information.
The Miner's TrailThe Miner's Trail is a dedicated mountain bike trail which includes three kilometres of trails for all abilities, with some exciting and challenging technical features. It's located in Jubilee Woods next to Swan Pool car park just off Park Lane (B71 3SX).
The trail is free to use. For visitors with roof-mounted bikes, we recommend parking either at Sandwell Park Farm or at Forge Mill Farm.

​Cannock Chase Trails MTB 

Cannock is an officail area of outstanding natural beauty, it has a fantastic trail network for older children at least 12 years and above is our recommendation, the trails here can be physically demanding and there's some pretty big climbs. 

There's fantastic facilities though such as Cafe, Toilets, Bike Shop, Bike Wash and a Children Playground and picnic areas, so this spot is perfect if you go as a group the none riders can walk and explore the woods and play at the park while the older children and the more experience riders go for  shred the trails after which you can all meet back for some lunch. 

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We hope you like these suggestions, if you have any other good ideas please be sure to let us know, and if you want to know more about any of the places listed feel free to get in touch or just pop in to the shop we just love to chat about riding bikes. 

Cannock is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Staffordshire, it has an array of mountain biking trails to offer all abilities and is probably one of the most popular trail centres in the country. 

Follow the Dog - The short loop and should take someone with average riding ability and fitness under an hour to complete and is approx 6miles.

The Monkey - A few more hills but the pay off means bigger decents, this has more black trail options for the more experienced rider but don't worry there's always a red option if you're not feeling brave. This is about a 7mile loop but the extra hills means it will take you about 1hr 30mins to get round, its important to say that if you park at the main trail centre and want to do the Monkey you're going to be riding the full 11mile route taking in both trails.

Stile Cop - This is separate to the main trail centre loop and requires you to park in a different car park, it's a perfect introduction to DownHill MTB, it has a fun red run which has jumps, drops and nice roots but if you like the gnarly stuff then theres double black, big step downs and gap jumps available too. 


The Main Car Park has a bike wash, cafe and a bike shop if you need quick spare or an emergency repair.