If the thought of bombing down rough trails has you dreaming of getting off-road, here’s some extra info on suitable four wheel mountain bike trails around the UK to help get you rolling…

Please respect others when riding the trails. If you ride multi-use trails, when you see someone, such as a hiker, slow down. Give any other riders room to pass and yield to those riding uphill. Try not to go so fast or so slow that you disrupt others (hikers or riders) and, when you stop, get off the trail, for your own safety and that of others.

Please respect the trails too… ride only on trails when they are open. Try to ride where the ground is hardest, especially during or after heavy rain. Don't take shortcuts across switchbacks, etc and leave undisturbed areas undisturbed. Travel in groups no larger than 5 or 6 to reduce your impact on the environment and on other trail users. Also, ensure you take away everything that you bring with you, including any litter. Ride on!

The ideal trail for a four wheeler has a predominantly downhill gradient throughout. Whilst it is possible to self propel a four wheeler on the flat and up shallow gradients, it is not possible to the same level of efficiency as a two wheeler. Where a normal bike can be pedalled to gain momentum a four wheeler will struggle to regain momentum following flat or uphill sections. A four wheeler can be jumped in the same way as normal bike (with 6 inches of suspension travel) but it is particularly important to take the landing impact on the exit transition. Therefore you need to be able to carry enough speed into a jump to achieve this.

Steep straight downhill gradients are fine for 4 wheelers, however turns across steep gradient on off cambers are not good. Table tops, step up/downs and doubles are all possible providing it is possible to carry sufficient speed into the take off to achieve the landing transition. Small drop offs can also be ridden. Technical features and natural terrain such as rock gardens are usually ok providing they are wide enough. Raised boardwalk sections and fun boxes are fine again providing they are wide enough.

UK MTB trails use colour codes to tell you what to expect.
The colours are based on those used for cross-country skiing routes. We have created an easy to follow table showing you what the different colours mean for UK mountain-bikers...

Below is a list of the trails that have so far successfully been used with 4 wheeled bikes. The Rough Riderz club has also had some input into the revised Funpark Trail at Laggan Wolftrax and the Essentials Freeride route at Glentress...

Laggan Wolftrax www.basecampmtb.com

Scotland has some of the best mountain biking in the UK. One of the best venues for fourcross riders is in the Scottish Highlands. Wolftrax has a permanent vehicle uplift service to get you to the top of the downhill trails. The blue graded Fun Park trail is almost 1 mile long and is packed with table-top jumps and bermed corners. There are also plans to develop further routes that will be suited to fourcross riders.

Glentress www.7stanes.gov.uk

Scotland also boasts one of the UK's largest trail centres in the Scottish borders. At Glentress, the Freeride Park and the Essentials Trail feature blue and red sections that are good for fourcross riders, as well as parts of the Unnamed Trail . The Spooky Wood Trail on the red XC route at Glentress is packed with table-tops, drop-offs and huge bermed corners- ideal for fourcross.

Innerleithen www.7stanes.gov.uk

Just a couple of miles down the road at Innerleithen there are numerous downhill trails. Many of these are very technical but some are suitable for fourcross riders, notably the Make or Break Trail and Caddon Bank Descent. We are currently negotiating with the Forestry Commission to arrange an uplift for fourcross riders at both Glentress and Innerleithen.

Ae Forest www.7stanes.gov.uk

The red-graded Ae Line is a challenging high quality ride, with the Ae Line Descent providing an aggressive freeride style, with some large trail features in addition to very steep descents.

Fort William www.nevisrange.co.uk

Another purpose-built downhill site with an uplift service is at Fort William in Scotland. This has yet to be ridden by fourcross riders but there are plans to check out these trails soon too.

Hamsterley Forest www.descendhamsterley.co.uk

Northern England has a purpose-built downhill site in County Durham. This site has a number of traditional gnarly downhill runs, many of which are OK for fourcross riders, as well as the 4X track. A vehicle uplift service is also available here by prior arrangement and subject to minimum numbers.

Llandegla Forest www.coedllandegla.com

The forest has mountain biking trails suitable for fourcross riders, with more challenging routes for experienced riders. There are sections of Blue, Red and Black XC routes. All tracks are completely enclosed within the forest, so there are no main roads to cross.

Cwm Carn www.mbwales.com

There is a purpose-built downhill site with an uplift service is at Cwm Carn in South Wales. This has yet to be ridden by fourcross riders but plans are in the pipeline to review the trails soon.

Ideally the trail needs to be wider than the width of the bikes at 0.9m. This does not mean that the prepared width of trail needs to exceed this dimension for its entire length. It is often necessary to ride a four wheeler with one wheel off the prepared surface in the undergrowth. The main thing that will prevent the use of singletrack trail is very narrow bench cut single track and raised boardwalk of less than 1m. It is particularly frustrating to find perfectly usable section of singletrack that has a short section of boardwalk that is 0.8m wide. Board walk of this width is not in place to provide the challenge of riding a ’skinny’ obstacle for two wheeled riders. It could therefore afford to be a little wider to accommodate four wheelers without spoiling the challenge in any way for 2 wheelers.

Entry/exit barriers to trails obviously need to exceed four wheeled bike width. Usually 0.15m either side of the bikes is sufficient to allow them to get through unhindered. This allows for the fact that a turn is often required as gates are usually staggered.The Trail demarcation also needs to be considered with the width of four wheel bikes in mind.

Watch this space for our full 'fourcross friendly' trail building guidelines, soon available to download in pdf format...