Reviews for North Face Trail

Summary:
Too much hard work for very little reward!!!

Review:
Ive ridden pretty much every trail in the North West - from Coed y Brenin, Marin, Penmachno up to the Altura Trail at Winlatter in the Lakes and everything in between. I had done Grizedale twice before prior to my recent visit.

I went back this time with an experienced rider and a rider who hadnt done much mountain biking thinking it would be a fair introduction for him and a good ride for the both of us. I came away vowing never to go back.

Grizedale is dull if you are a competent biker looking for a bit of excitement, and its long and painful for the inexperienced. There is virtually no fast flowing downhill or jumps, and just no fun to be had. The wooden sections are a bit of comedy on a wet day and there is a section at the end through the forest that is quite quick, but that is it. They have now, i discovered, lengthened the course but thats all they seem to have done. The trail got longer and stayed very dull. This track requires a boat load of hard work for very little fun or excitement in return.

If you want fun and fast downhill go further north to the Altura Trails. The North & South trails here are brilliant in comparison. Hard work going up but with so much reward once youve reached the top and got your breath back. They also have a new Blue run at Altura - this i cant comment on.

And if you wanna have some real fun then get yourself to North Wales to Llandegla's Black and Red runs are still by far the best trails ive ridden if its fun and excitement you want.

Sorry Grizedale. The sport has progressed you have not!

Summary:
Pretty Cool

Review:
I rode this today as my first ever trail ride. The uphill sections at the start were gruelling and made me realise how unfit i was lol. However when i got over this the fast sections through the service roads then the downhill sections were very good. The wooden sections were very slippy though even when it wasnt raining just water on your tyres. This is where i took a dive over the handlebars lol.
Overall it was enjoyable and i would do it again....

Summary:
Woeful Waymarking for a pricey place.

Review:
When paying a fiver for the privilege to park I would expect good facilities and they are pretty good but the trail is so badly waymarked I found it impossible to follow. Obviously waymarked by the same numpty who did Gisburn. All I ask is that when I come to a junction there is a clear symbol to show me which way to go. Surely this can't be so hard, or is someone stealing all the signs as Gisburn is just as bad???

The sections I did ride were okay but a little short, I personally like the north shore, its hard to find anywhere to practice this properly without risking serious injury but you can do here.

Summary:
Disappointing - not worth a return visit

Review:
This is certainly the poorest man-made trail I've tried - if you like Gisburn, which I do, this is a great disappointment. Don't expect much adrenaline flowing on this one. Given such a spectacular setting and terrain to play with making a trail here is the cycling equivalent of an open goal but they missed. Much of the single track left me with a sense of pointlessness :
- North-Shore sections for no apparent reason with wheeltracks in the gravel alongside confirming this - tight twisty hairpins on not very steep gradients with wheeltracks cutting from one loop to the next illustrating the frustration; you can't get much speed up due to unnecessary and unexciting tight corners
- single-track sections alongside fireroad rather than cutting between roads makes it seem a bit aimless and made me feel like a child keeping in sight of its parents.
The good points are the facilities at Grizedale Visitor Centre and a short section of downhill single-track just after the north end.
Next time I'll find my own route on the bridleways.
But maybe I'm missing the point - maybe it is not the trail but the marketing that is wrong? As a family route anyone capable of riding 10 miles but not being a competent or keen mountain biker might find this great. I passed 2 couples which were clearly one keen cyclist with their bloke/lady being encouraged but not confident - maybe this is a great trail for that, or a parent with young teens.
But if you want an adrenaline run, a good workout or technical challenge look elsewhere.

Summary:
a bit naff

Review:
really didn't think much of it. seemed like i was climbing forever, the downhills were pretty dull, the decking was slippery and the whole trail looked a bit worn. i'm sure some people love it, i'm sure it's plenty hard enough for some people, but i had no buzz and will stay closer too home next time!