Haldon Forest Park is situated on the outskirts of Exeter in Devon. It sits on a flint ridge to the South of the city and dominates the skyline for miles around. With over 3500 acres of woodland and the newly built trail infrastructure it provides over 20 miles of safe, off-road access for walkers, cyclist and riders.
Family Cycling Trail This will be the least challenging route and it will follow, where possible, a line around the contours on the top of the ridge from the Gateway, across into Tower Wood and along to the Bird of Prey viewpoint on a track running alongside the all-ability walking trail. From there the route takes you down onto a lower forest road before making its way back to the Gateway.
Adventure Cycling Trail A second loop will take you on a more rugged surface from the Gateway down into the forest a little before heading along the side of the ridge to a crossing point on the road that leads down to Chudleigh. You then have the option to return to the Gateway on a separate track or cross into the new clear fell area known as Spicers Wood and do a further loop of that area. Of course both of these trails can be joined together to make one large route.
Freer Ride - Mountain Bike Area Haldon Forest is ideal territory for single-track bike trails and the Forestry commision want to help develop this into something special. They are not aiming to create the sort of championship courses you find in the forests of Wales or Scotland but they can build something that is both challenging and enjoyable for most people. In order to minimise the impact of this activity on other users of the forest (and vice-versa) they are dedicating an area of the ridge especially for mountain bike trails. This will be in Freer's Wood which is an area already well known by local riders. They plan to work with these local enthusiasts to build robust trails that should last for years and can be regularly maintained in a safe state.
