Sherwood Pines Forest Park

silvershadow81

silvershadow81

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Has anyone ridden around this? is it mainly roads or tracks?

Looks like they do a year pass for £40 - has anyone got this? Is it worth it (we are 1hour away but desperate to find some good rides)

Thanks
 
I did when I lived in the area, the pass used to get you into several forestry parks, Sherwood pines is great but I preferred some of the others, think blidworth is the one that has a specific horsebox park and more places to canter. Sherwood pines always was busier with people, kids and bikes. Some of the others are quieter.

I had a pass for a couple of years and used it fairly regularly so was worth it for me. You can also buy a pass for clumber park but I just used to use the bridleways as I was in hacking distance
 
I've ridden around Sherwood pines on pleasure rides organised by Sport Endurance, its a combination of surfaced paths and woodland tracks. It is open to cyclists, etc. but it's never been too busy when I've been there.

Clumber park is nice but there's more road type paths, with some vehicles.
 
Clumber park and sherwood pines are both lovely - haven't ridden at either but am an adventurous dog walker!


Where are you based? I've lived in different places in the midlands and wonder if there's anywhere else I could recommend?
 
perfect! thank you all for replies!

blidworth sounds like an option, and closer too. I may look to buy the pass then if the rides are worth it!

think Bestwood Country Park would be a little too far, may wait till summer and make it a longer ride!

I needed softer tracks as my OH now rides my 26year old and she prefers softer ground.

We live opposite Chatsworth and most rides ive found are on moors and have steep stony rides, which isn't ideal. We have been round Speetley farm rides a few times as can get in some canters but feel the need to explore a bit more!

Any more suggestions of where to ride/ park to get onto some decent canter tracks welcomed! :-)
 
I used to be liveried in Blidworth Woods and owned a Forestry Commission pass, the Sherwood Pine woods are amazing, beautiful sand paths, long clear canter paths, lots of hills and hidden pathways, caravan cafes for hot chocolates and bacon butties and plenty of benches to remount from, oh and a few ponds to play in on a hot summers day too! I loved it there and only moved due to moving counties!
I think the pass is money well spent however I will echo Wheels comment as it can be busy, with clueless dog owners, fortunately my horse doesn't kick and got used to being chased by dogs whose owners don't have the manners to keep them on a lead (Forestry Commission states dogs are kept on leads), most were very good but you always get one! Lots of cyclists but usually very friendly, runners - same again! And of course other horse owners but have only come by a few rude people and most come back to a walk to pass one another.
But the woods shelter you from a lot of bad weather so often the drizzly days meant the best days as it was quiet out in the woods!
http://geegeeandme.blogspot.co.uk/
 
Blidworth Woods sounds great if sandy tracks, perfect for my old girl! Understand there is a turnstyle which needs a key to access. I've tried to call forestry commission who say they are closed till new year....

does anyone know if there is an office there which we could pay to get the pass and the key tomorrow?!

x
 
There isn't an office and good luck getting a key within the month! They're not the most efficient ;)

Well worth having one though, we go over there quite a lot and the riding is lovely...

You may still be able to go tomorrow, a few people don't park in the horse car park. We didn't whilst waiting for our key arrive.
 
Arh, thanks for the heads up! It will be about an hour trek there, will we still be able to get onto the rides if we just box over there and pay someone when there? Is there an office at Sherwood Pines we should try first?

I don't want to box horses over and then not be able to get out onto the rides once there :-)

Which car park would you suggest parkin in? I am not familiar with the area so all very new to this!

Thanks xx
 
The rides are accessible to all, they're not fenced off at all and you won't need to pay. I've never seen a warden and nor has my mother, collectively we've ridden there for about forty years... a friend did when she was waiting for her key to arrive and she just explained and it was fine. Dog walkers, cyclists and joggers all use the forestry land for free :)

The Blidworth Bottoms car park is where we usually park. It's just past Kirkfield's Equestrian centre on the right if you're coming in from the Ravenshead side. NG21 0NW. Alternatively, there's the car park on Longdale Lane which has recently been massively extended, this one tends to be much busier with dog walkers though and there's more likely to be wardens about.

I don't think there are any offices on site at Clumber Park - they certainly won't be there on a Sunday!
 
Enjoy, it's a lovely place to ride. There are a few trees down in places too at the moment if you fancy a pop... They're removed from the main paths but if you venture a little off the beaten track there are a few nice ones about.

Let us know how it goes :)
 
Sherwood pines is fab! Just make sure you don't go on the Kitchener trail bike route. It's a fast, singletrack and technical bike route. The last time I took my bike I almost collided with a lady riding round it the wrong way!
 
So we boxed up and went along today...

it was WONDERFUL!!! :-)

Thank you all for your suggestions! The tracks were just perfect for my older girl who is 26 and needs a softer going now! My new girl was striding out leading the way trying to be brave, we even both popped some fallen trees (will post short vid in a mo!

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=21614&d=1388351243

Ive applied for the discovery pass, but looks like others were all parked in main car park so not to stressed about when key comes, we will defiantly be back! :-) xx
 
attachment.php
sorry other link didn't work! :-)
 
Fabulous! I missed that one last weekend - thought we'd located most of them...!

Might see you there in future, we box over fairly regularly :)
 
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