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Where to Ride: New Forest

Words and Pictures: Hugo Gladstone

Located close to the coast, west of Southampton, the New Forest is one of southern England's true tourist honeypots. Covering over 500 square kilometres, this vast area of unspoilt woodland and scrubby heath is estimated to attract 13 million visitor-days each year.

Of course, one of the best ways to enjoy and explore the forest is by bicycle. What makes it particularly attractive is its relative flatness, an abundance of forest fire tracks and an extensive tourist infrastructure.

While the forest is perhaps best geared up for leisure riders and families, there's also a lot to be said for more serious road riding in the area too. Although some of these can get busy with visitor traffic, nearly all roads through the forest are subject to low speed limits. Head away from the main hubs and they get even better - rolling hills and lovely scenery. This is where Cervélo pro Dan Lloyd has done much of his training.

Surprisingly mountain biking is perhaps the least attractive option in the area. By and large, cyclists are banned from riding on anything other than the roads and fire tracks. Alongside reflections on leisure and road riding in the area, we take a deeper look at this issue in the route guides linked below.

Leisure

From the village of Burley, you are spoilt for choice with riding options. There are bucolic lanes, forest trails and an old railway line running across heathland. What do you do? One option is to ride them all. Read More...

Road

Up and down the sides of Avon Valley on the western fringe of the New Forest, this 40-mile loop takes in delightful lanes and some rich history.  Read More...

Off-Road

Going seriously off-road in the New Forest itself is severely restricted. We look into where you can legitimately ride with the local mountain bike club and explore some of the options beyond the New Forest boundary. Read More...

Further resources

As a national park and popular tourist destination, internet resources on the New Forest are plentiful. Those that might prove particularly useful include websites of the New Forest National Park Authority, the Forestry Commission and the local tourist board. The Verderers are also a highly influential body in the management and conservation of the forest with a particularly strong interest in both sustainability and road safety. Hampshire County Council has a number of handy cycling pages including one on the New Forest.

For holidaymakers and leisure cyclists, there are several cycle hire outlets dotted around the forest. These include Forest Leisure Cycling, Cycle Experience, Country Lanes, AA Bike Hire and New Forest Activities. All of these will provide detailed routes and ride information relating to their location. This map offers a forest wide overview.

The racing scene is strong in this part of the country with the Wessex League promoting road events and closed circuit races at Barnsfield Heath. Off-roaders are catered for by the Wessex Cyclo-Cross League and the Southern Cross-Country Mountain Bike Series. Trackies can get a fix on the indoor velodrome at Calshot Activities Centre. This is home to the shortest and steepest banked track in the country.