New purpose built mountain biking trail to be created at Whinlatter Forest

The longest purpose built mountain biking trail in the Lake District is to be created at Whinlatter Forest near Keswick. The £500,000 scheme was approved by the Lake District National Park Authority at a meeting in Kendal on Tuesday. The 19km trail will involve the building of 15km of new single track in the forest. The Forestry Commission welcomed the decision to approve the new mountain bike trail and a Go Ape high wire forest adventure course which will create 10 new jobs and safeguard a dozen existing jobs. Graeme Prest, forest management director for the Forestry Commission, said: “We’re delighted that these new facilities will now be developed at Whinlatter. Thousands of people who visit the forest go mountain biking, but up to now there has been no purpose built bike trail. This new trail will be a great opportunity for mountain bikers to develop their skills or simply go out and have fun. "Go Ape has been a huge hit at Grizedale Forest and we’re confident it will also be very popular with visitors to Whinlatter." The application met with opposition from a number of people living in Braithwaite at the foot of Whinlatter Pass. They claimed it would bring extra traffic on narrow roads through the village and be visible from footpaths. The trail will be built by Hugh Clixby who has previously constructed trails for the Forestry Commission at Dalby in North Yorkshire and Cannock Forest in the West Midlands. It will be sponsored by Altura, who make clothing for cyclists. Bike hire facilities will be provided by Cyclewise from Penrith, who also offer bike training. The North Face Trail, which opened at Grizedale Forest in 2006, has been a big success story. The Go Ape high wire forest adventure courses include rope bridges, Tarzan swings and zip slides up to 40 ft up in the trees. Customers are fitted with a climbing harness, given instructions, and then trek from tree to tree high above the forest floor. The new facilities are expected to open next summer and the North West Regional Development Agency will be helping to fund the construction of the mountain bike trail and redevelopment of the car park at the visitor centre. Whinlatter Forest Park is England’s only true mountain forest. Rising to 790 metres above sea level it offers spectacular views of the Lake District and into Scotland. www.forestry.gov.uk