Could anyone tell me how to get there and where to park please?

I've not been yet but from what I've been told you can park up on Witton Country Park car park.

Some pics of Billinge Woods

That looks great.

Where is it, how long, who built it etc etc ?

Cheers.

thats on the way home that is about 1 mile away from where I am now …shame I have no bike with me but I am going there tomorrow now…willing to pay good money to see lowey do the step drop
The woods can be got to through witton park but I am uncertain as to where the trail is is it sign posted or easy to find?

Do a search, there was another thread about this with lots of info recently.

Isn't that where Nigel Page rides?

thread here but no route finding info

Isn't that where Nigel Page rides?

He's been riding at Lee Quarry with Ed Oxley I think. I believe the 'trails' that are down now are stage 1 of 2. Due to complete the lot in mid June iirc.

There's still been no location or route details released. Official launch will be in June in conjunction with Bike Week according to the BAD MB newsletter. Apparently there's another route going in as well.
Built by Phil Saxena of Architrail to the BAD lots plans.
"The piccies on the Fairy Steps and also fording Hapton Woods are also top notch" taken from their forum – does that give anyone any clues?

woods re herewell so it should be easy to find trail I assume

I've resurrected this thread as it's most recent.
'Rode' the trail yesterday. Summary below in an effort to be brief:
The important bit: The trail isn't finished. It wont launch until Bike Week at end of June. There is no signage at all. There are walkers on the trails. There are kids on BMX's hurtling with no helmets. There are moto-x ppl floating around too. The trail crosses a Tramper trail and a Bridleway with no signage in place at all at these points.. If you ride the trail before launch, please be aware of this. The walkers intentions are questionable if you catch my drift.
Location: Park & ride is currently a bit difficult. Nearest car park closed. Nearest pub owned by the Northcote Manor bloke. Bikers, I'd imagine, not welcome. Parking will be sorted before launch.
Trail: Technical, loose gravel surface which needs to bed in, bombholes, off camber tight turns, tight berms, fairy steps is as scary as the broken bones being gained going down it testify. Chicken run involves lateral rock dodging. Quit at this point, too much for us. Uncompleted trail (other half of figure of eight) has a gap jump, gap about 1.2 metre but hand tree trunks provide goalposts. Very narrow goalposts. This track def. not finished.
It's a very technical trail. It's been designed to throttle speed. And I wont be riding it in this lifetime :O)

Just to add to this (Loulouk is my OH, we both went over there yesterday), I'd really, really recommend waiting until it's officially open.

For future reference the car park, when it's open, is off Killiard Lane. The car park is currently closed (a passing local opined that it was due to, ahem, unwelcome nocturnal activities) but there's space in front of the barrier for maybe three cars. If you've got bikes on roof bars, there isn't currently sufficient clearance from low-hanging branches to pass cleanly – another reason perhaps why the car park is closed. Street parking is at a premium and probably won't endear us much to the locals, I'd try to avoid that if possible for PR reasons.

As Loulouk says, the trail isn't finished. The surface is very loose, and there's bits that look like they've been taped off and then someone's been along and snapped the tape. Sections end abruptly in a pile of 'do not pass' chippings. It looks like it's going to be good when it's finished mind, though it's going to be far too hardcore for the likes of me to be going anywhere near.

Logistics aside, it's currently crawling with accidents waiting to happen. Natural exposure is fairly high (overshoot some of the berms and you're going to land on the other side of the Pennines), but that aside we saw a couple of kids on BMXs hurtling down with absolutely no protection (and eroding very creative lines through the unsettled corners), a walker hiking his way up the whoops and berms of the shaley singletrack, and a scary-looking but absolutely lovely dog-walker with about eight big dogs charging about. The overall impression we got from talking to passing muggles was that most of the locals have no idea what the trail actually is, and so have no sense of the caution they need to be exercising.

Just to add, the car park wont be re-opening due to anti-social behaviour after hours. Access advisement will be from Witton through Crow Woods. If nothing else, the visitor centre there will absolutely be bike friendly.
I'd second the verge parking as well. People have spent a lot of money both on their houses and their security. You wont get away with parking where you're not supposed to there.

Ah, didn't realise that. Ignore the map link then. (-:

Oh yes meant to update I rode it last week- day after I saw thread- and agree with what the others say. Also the drop off in the picture has a very sketchy entrance to it over off camber rocks so you wont hit the drop at speed [well not on anything other than DH bike]and you need to kind of turn to your right all the way through but it is relatively easy/doable. I then noticed at the bottom I had left my forks locked out for the entire descent it was easier with suspension on the second run. Did not do chicken run to side so cant say .. I am that GNAR 8O. Some of the berms are impossibly tight at bottom to ride at any speed and I had to hop my back end round a couple. It is fun but I would not travel far to get there. You can climb back up the side of the track on a fire road which is a bit steep at start – still doable on a SS – but eases off.

Would like to praise it but feel it is a bit like healy nab …too much stuffed into a small area with tight berms and low margin for error and high penalty [trees and large drops]. Wish I could praise it more but it was just OK IMHO though NB I am not a trail centre fan generally.
EDIT: do you two not talk @ home 😉

You expect us to talk at home and on the Internet? Man, no-one can possibly live at that speed.

Best parking will be on the car park accessed from Preston Old Road.
Loads of space, although just a 'short' ride to the top of Billinge Woods.

But even better to come back down. 😀

Is everyone happy that this has been graded a red route?

that drop off section is not red it is Black and has some danger there – there will be a bad off there for sure. All the rest was red but not flowy red technical ish red – see above I dont ride trail centres my assesment is based on Lee Quarry and the drop bit is comparable with the black there it was hard to ride the entrance to the drop off on a hardtail rigid for certain 😳

Definitely graded red. With some slightly tricky bits, that I would really not want to get wrong….
The loose gravel surface would have skin off in no time.

Would like to praise it but feel it is a bit like healy nab …too much stuffed into a small area with tight berms

My thoughts egg- zackerly. Plus, unless that surface gets done with a whacker then it will be ripped to bits by panic braking in no time.

Is everyone happy that this has been graded a red route?

The trail isn't finished, not worth speculating too much about the grading until it is and has the chance to bed in and weather. TBH, you would have been better not riding it if it was clearly "not finished" as a trial in that stage / state of construction needs to be left alone to bed in. Saying that, if there weren't signs etc then how were you to know beforehand and it sounds like it's getting hammer from all sorts anyway. Riders are renown for not giving a toss that a trail is "off limits" for whatever reason and just blazing on through whatever the potential ill affects.

From my limited knowledge of the project only a small area was released to the builder. Better to try and cram in as much as possible and prove the areas potential / demand to motivate and allow further development (which I believe has come off with a second phase being commissioned).

Trails and their difficulty are incredibly subjective. There's just far too many potential variables to ever be able to really, meaningfully categorise difficulty into a a handful of arbitary grades / colour brackets. Arguing whether one is red, black or brown (can you see what I did there 😉 isn't particularly worthwhile. The grade should be treated as a guide. Riders need to exercise continual care and judgement. Just because a trail is at a "centre" or is purpose built doesn't mean everything has been taken care of.

Do I need to say that's all IMO?

We were discussing this yesterday, basically came to the conclusion that all a grading does is tell you what's easier / harder than the other routes at a given centre; there doesn't seem to be much consistency between colour grades between centres (especially if you start comparing English / Welsh / Scottish centres).

Cheeky> We thought the loop with no tape on it was open. The clue being the tape which was still attached to trees but snapped in half on the other half of the loop, which clearly wasn't finished. I've explained to one of the bods involved in creating this that it's not clear enough to those of us who do care about riding unfinished routes that it's not open yet, cos there are no signs or anything. They're sorting it. They know people will ride it anyway, but I wouldn't have had I known, there'll be other people like me. They're also sorting signs warning walkers etc not to walk along it.

Will it get easier when the surface is whacked or bedded in with some rain? I think so. I'll still be walking the chicken run but will be happier about the bombhole with the berm right at the bottom of it. And it's something to aspire to, which is always healthy. But there's a bit of me screaming 'waaaaaaahhh why can't there be a nice flowing speedy red route on my doorstep' – then that bit remembers Cragg Quarry and STFU. :O)

If you want it there's a few ways to try and get it, though they all take rather a lot of hard work, umpteen frustrations and more effort than most have the inclination for 😎

For what it's worth, the guy doing the pro' build (Phil Saxena) is a nice bloke with riding at the centre of what he does (IMO).

Get involved with whatever volunteer group there is (is there one?) and try to help make good things happen. It's not for everyone but (in a horrendously trite way) if everyone did just a little bit we'd have masses more to play on / use / for all than there is currently.

[hops off soap box 😉 ]

Good point, well made. Bod I spoke to said something about being invited to the launch. Not my cup of tea in the slightest, however, if it means I can meet people I can mutter at about getting skills loops built and some swoopy flowing stuff down through Crow Woods, then it might be a case of suffering for the greater good.

I suspect any form of launch will be very different to the type of affair I imagine you have in mind. Given MTB-ing people, and the even smaller subset of people prepared to do something other than riding their bikes, is small (and teeny tiny, respectively) then if you are serious about trying to do something you ought to sieze anything that seems to have even the vaguest whiff of usefulness at any opportunity.

Also, the ability to see everyone's PoV and accept compromise for the sake of achieving something is a skill that demands constant effort. Plus a skin impervious to anything less than a full tactical nuclear assault 😉

A lovely bit of advice about advocacy / volunteering / Gresham's Law of Activists:

http://www.imba.org.uk/research_and_reports/EffectiveCampaigning.html

I've not got the thick skin, I'll own up right now.
Also good point. No good having a skills loop and some nice flowy singletrack if I'm the only one riding them. Oh well. I'll leave it to the BAD lot, they're the woods biggest users and I'll go Cragg and indulge my inner loon quietly.
I don't want fuss, really. I just want…..inclusion and not exclusion. But that's useless if there's only an army of one feeling excluded.

Ah, no, I think you've misinterpreted / I haven't explained very well. And I was trying to be encouraging 😉

I meant the number of people prepared to help make trails happen was small. This is significantly different to the number of people who will come along and use a trail once it is built. However, they are the ones that might well say they don't like it, or it should have been like *this* and *that* etc. It is in those instances you need a thick skin.

You could always go along and just help make *something* happen. Even if it is not exactly what "you want". It can be a rewarding experience making something, anything happen and then seeing it being enjoyed. Plus, by being in the game, if/when an opportunity arises that might be more like the trails you'd specifically like to see then you are there to "exploit" it.

Re: "exclusion", I hate to sound like someone's dad / grandpa / some smartarse but with trails there is never a true-er truism than "you can't please all the people all the time …." and "vive la difference".

If it were me I'd get involved, if only to find out whether I liked being involved in the first place. At least then if you decide not to be you've done so with first hand knowledge.

Must.get.off.soap.box.now. 😎

Hmmmm, I like the point of getting involved to see if you like being involved. What I don't like is sticking my head above the parapet. I'll go along and find out who people are and if they seem alright and take it from there. And thank you. I got our site a bike rack approved today, and that felt good enough – I'm starting to understand that speaking up and asking is worth doing.