Swinley Forest — Attraction in Crowthorne

I love Swinley forest it's the best place for mountain biking locally. With graded trails from green to red (not same structure as BPW) it is ridable by most skill levels and you dont need a hardcore bike to have fun. Some hidden little off piste gems out there too. I only have two issues

1: The closure of the Jump Gulley (sandy cutting) in 2015.

Damn shame this as it was great fun. But I can imagine people hurting themselves and probably trying to sue the crown estate as we live in this wonderful sue everyone society.

2: Walkers, hikers, dogs etc.

I have no issue with all of the above. However when in the marked mountain bike trail it is clearly marked one way and bikes only. I was going down Blue 16 (helter skelter) a high speed berm section and came face to face at about 18mph with a woman pushing a child seat up the course. I had to quickly jump off circuit to avoid hurting her, her child and myself. All I got in return was abuse. Walkers need to respect the signs just as we respect them on...

If you're not an everyday bicyclist and haven't been on one for years like me, my advice would be, go out down your local road first, get your legs used to using pedals again. I think my legs wanted to give up after 15 minutes... But. What an amazing experience. The staff were friendly (if your hiring a bike), most people you pass say hi or engage in conversation and, when I weren't on the floor or trying to stop my heart beating out my chest, going round the forest and getting lost in yourself is both humbling and exhilarating. Some of the downhills made me feel like I could fly! Brilliant place to go, take the dog, take the kids as there is a little park and a place to sit and have lunch near the car park. On a beautiful day like it was today, I'm going to say this place is better than...

It's on the doorstep though, for many years, I really went nowhere near it I'd be heading into Reading for a ride along the river or canal and, getting off the train as I got on would be (mostly) guys asking for Swinley Forest. When I took my bike there I realised it is a special place. Plenty of activity near the hub, called the LookOut, but the numbers soon thin out as you move further into the forest.

There are plenty of tracks to ride/walk of vehicle width and, for bikers, plenty of single tracks. In recent years, a number of these single tracks were joined together to create 4 routes from Green (short easy family ride) through Blue and Red to Black (serious downhill) at the southern end of the forest, on the border with Bagshot Heath.

Something...