Reviews for Deadwater Trail - Kielder Forest

Summary:
Up up up

Review:
As everyone says you have got to climb and then climb some more but its a great ride and really enjoyable. I rode it on a cold and snowy February morning and it was fantastic but the north shore sections were so slippy they were un-rideable and caused me a lot of pain!! Beware!!

Summary:
Pretty strenuous uphill climbs

Review:
I totally agree with the guy who said climbs climbs + just when you think your done, there's even more climbing! I suppose it's to be expected seen your heading up onto Deadwater Fell, and the view is nice up there. Very rugged road, pretty boring to be fair, but through the trees and descending is superb. I like the north shore section near the end but had to chicken out of Dougie's Day Off.. didn't have the balls for this but maybe next time. It seemed over fairly quick with completion just under 2hrs so I'd recommend a few blasts round the new free ride park. The North shore section is class and there's a pretty big booter which could potentially put you into orbit.!

I'd rate this trail 9 for the descents but I couldn't help thinking the uphill sections out numbered the descents 3:1

Summary:
mentally challenging ups, eye watering downs - big grin at the finish line

Review:
Completed the Deadwater trail this morning (30/08/09). A quick warm up session on the skills loop then straight into it.

The off road sections are very well designed and keep you on your toes most of the time.

The climb to Deadwater peak is immense, you climb and climb and climb then just when you think it cant go for much longer you climb and climb and climb some more then just to test you mentally that little bit more you climb further again. That just about does it justice.

After that though what goes up must come down, the long stretch of down hill is very exillorating, lenses at the ready as you cannot afford to blink if your eyes start watering as I nearly found out.

In summary this is a quality trail and i look forward to improving enough to try the up and over section in the future.

Summary:
Painful ups, enjoyable downs - Good mixture

Review:
Rode this yesterday (04/04/09) after a weekend of DIY. Sods law showed me right on the weather - as soon as we got in the car it started to rain and the drizzle/mist stayed with us all day.

Had a couple of plays on the skills loop first of all - nice fun and a good thrash, but not as good as the skills loop at Hamsterley. Quickly moved on up the hill to start taking on the Red trail, past the new trials/freeride/northshore park that's being built... It soon became apparent that only 4 weeks back on my bike, and carrying 17 stone around was going to be uncomfortable... Nobody to blame but myself on that one though.

The trail is nicely demanding, without being overly harsh; it became a bit of a formula after a while: Uphill singletrack, uphill fireroad, downhill singletrack, repeat... That's not a criticism - I think it's good that the ride is broken up like that - it certainly stopped me from being complacent anyhow.

The weather meant that we kept cracking on at our "best" pace (i.e. - I was slowing us down!), but it still wasn't too horrible. I'm on a fully rigid bike and that, plus a broken finger, plus being overweight stopped me getting full enjoyment out of the ride. I've never been the most adventurous or technical of riders, so I chickened some of the bigger rocks... Reckon the more I go back and ride this, the more fun it'll get.

The ride is enjoyable and mixed enough to be fun for a range of riders - less confident people like me can still chicken run (or roll) the bigger rocks, while more advanced people can properly hammer the twisty singletrack sections. After reaching the summit, we were so glad to turn back downhill and start the descent again - really enjoyable twisty, rocky descent, bermy with some drops. The one thing that properly spoiled my enjoyment was my old, faithful, rigid bike. Halfway down the descents I was slowing down because my wrists were starting to destroy me.

It's largely singletrack all the way back to the car park - mostly downhill with some ups, nice, rocky and technical again. I chickened on a lot still, but still enjoyed it, and I'm sure that I'll enjoy it more as I go back and learn the trail a bit better (and ride it in better weather). All in all it's a good enjoyable ride, but one that'll be enjoyed most by people with a decent fitness base and something to soak up the bumps. I'll definitely be back again soon!

Summary:
A mixture of single track and forest road with long climbs and some steep technical sections.

Review:
Firstly the facilities. The car park is £3. There are toilets, tea rooms and a pub which offers food.

At the beginning of the trail there is a chance to warm up on the small skills area before you head out. The route uses the roads/tracks to take you from one section to the next. Sign posts indicate the direction of the route and the move to single track action but are often confusing which is a shame.

Early on you get a taste of how serious the people who built the trail are about getting the feel just right. The initial section is smooth and flowing with berms, bridges and small rocky obstacles. it feels well made and well thought out.
You move on to a fairly long road/track climb which breaks the mood a bit. It'd be great if they could make the climb more interesting using winding single track rather than wide forest road. Just as your'e getting bored you find the beginning of the next section of single track round a left hand bend. Be careful not to take the path on the right. You'll be coming down that bit later on. It could do with a no entry sign and a warning really. This section has a much bumpier feel and kind of feels a bit dark and spooky. The ground is loose in places and there are a few very steep technical bits here which will be a bit much for inexperienced riders. The ride then begins to climb after a point called some thing like "Sharon's Stone" which is also a opportunity to return to the car park (left to the car park. Right continues.) , You zig zag up the side of a steep slope in the eery shade with the dead looking trees for company until eventually you come out into the sunshine faced with another road/trail ascent. This one is open to the elements and takes you to the highest point of the route with outstanding views on a clear day. You'll wonder if it was worth it. The descent is a lot quicker. Although the track is wide at this point, the ground is loose, some times littered with large stones. There are jumps too, but be careful they're not the nice smooth type. It's exillerating for sure. It's back to single track after that, with a sprinkling of berms, rocks and drops and a chance to take the black graded "up and over" trail or continue onwards to the car park.

The only reason I don't give this trail a ten is due to some poor signage and the boring road/track ascents. It's hard work, challenging and exillerating and well worth checking out.