Reviews for Powerline Trail - Chopwell

Summary:
ok but no where near "freeride" and not worthy of black/red grade

Review:
hi went to chopwell expecting a good little trail with a few hard bit in it!!!! (the black part) but was very disapointed. really should be graded blue with the northshore graded red. have a look on the blue run at glentress the jumps are bigger there and graded blue.
but the hiden tracks in the woods are top class with some nice kickers/drops and loads of tech bits to challenge yourself unlike the "powerline" these little trails get 10/10 of me but the power line is only 5/10
the push back up the car park is a bit of a slog, but hey you cant have it both ways, unless you have a chairlift.

Summary:
Red grade with little black section. Fast but not steep, with plenty of berms but a bit short and due some maintenance.

Review:
Parking your car is free but here are no toilets or bike hire or shops or anything really. The Powerline trail runs from the car park following the course of the...you've guessed it... powerlines. It's down hill almost all the way with a killer steep return back up to the car park along forest roads. Perfect for a quick blast about for an hour or so after work the powerline trail is fast and intense.

The trail has been extended recently. It now runs from the car park with some tight twisting single track through dense undergrowth bringing you to it's original starting point where there are some northshore style obstacles and a see-saw to play on before you begin to head down hill. Off to the right of the trail you'll find two large dirt jumps with super steep kickers. You'll have to look for them though. There are other opportunities to get some air on this trail but nothing like these.

Negative points include badly worn braking areas before the bends and corners, and a rock garden which seems a little thrown together. Improvements include the twisting start from the car park, a re-built black graded nothshore section which is vastly better than it used to be and the finnish point had included a drop-off type obstacle which was kind of squeezed in where there wasn't really room for it. It seems they've re-thought that and removed it since.

Why it's good; Fast , sweeping, intense action which leaves you wanting more. Impressive Black section which you can choose to do or bypass.

Why it could be better; Very short with a difficult and boring steep return to the start which will probably put you off doing it more than twice in a visit. Skid holes every where mean braking zones are bumpy as hell. Some work has been done recently (june 2009) to improve a lot of the damage done by logging but the trail is still pretty worn pretty much all the way round.
Overall it's definitely worth a visit but don't expect to make a day of it. Explore the other areas of the woods up from the car park to make it worth your while.

Summary:
poor

Review:
rode here for many years now,as time goes on the trails seem to be getting worse instead of better.It doesnt help the forestry has chopped down a shed load of trees.
Take the time and travel further afeild.There are much better trails out there .

Summary:
mint

Review:
went first time yest very very good best av road so far

Summary:
MUCH EASIER THAN EXPECTED

Review:
1st time on a real mtb track and loved it, pretty easy, even done the north shore style obstacles which were also easier than expected, but real fun, definately worth going back to. all in all a good trail.