England

Sherwood Pines Forest Park mustn’t be confused with Sherwood Forest – there’s much more riding at the former. Fast woodland singletrack is the order of the day, with a couple of purpose-built XC loops, over 45km of unmarked trails (keep your eyes peeled!), a skills area and a bike park complete with a set of dirt jumps. The centre sits right on National Cycle Network Route 6 so it’s easy to get to by bike.

Just over the border from Wales, Gloucestershire's Forest of Dean is a popular place to ride. It's full of great trails and there's a buzzing atmosphere at the trailhead too. There's a mix of wide forest tracks, marked XC routes and plenty of DH trails to test your mettle on. A new skills area and pump track were added last year. The downhill trails are easily accessed via the uplift service or a fireroad push-up, and the regular mini DH and enduro events are a great way to cut your teeth racing. What's more, the forest is full of great off-piste singletrack too, if you know where to look...

Cannock Chase is home to two waymarked mountain bike trails that are free to ride and open all year round. Situated in the middle of England, Cannock is easy to get to and very popular, so the two red XC routes, Follow the Dog, and The Monkey Trail can get very busy at weekends. You can ride Follow the Dog on its own or combine it with The Monkey Trail to form a longer figure-of-eight route. The trails are maintained by Chase Trails, a volunteer group who work with the Forestry Commission.

Just a stone’s throw from London, and a lesson in balancing leisure interests (there’s a Go Ape! ropes course here too, as well as plenty of walkers), Swinley Forest is evolving as a trail centre. Green, blue and red XC routes totalling 24.2km have been built thanks to investment from The Crown Estate, and some skills progression sections are being added this year. Why not check out the trails on one of the group rides organised by Swinley Forest Hub, after which you can enjoy one of their infamous BBQs?

Hadleigh Park in Essex carries the London 2012 legacy on its shoulders – ride here and feel like an Olympic athlete! After the Games, the XC racetrack was adapted for the public and split into blue, red and black-graded sections, meaning there’s something for everyone. As you’d expect, the trails are well planned and built, and ridable in all weather. It’s an easily-accessible location with great facilities, but don’t come here expecting airtime or long descents. This is purebred XC territory, so bike up accordingly and you’ll have a great time.

Gisburn lies in the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so you're guaranteed some amazing scenery as you enjoy the trails. There's an easy blue route and slightly harder and longer red XC route, neither of which will leave you feeling disappointed. Both start from the Gisburn Forest Hub car park, where you'll also find a cafe and skills loop. Further into the forest there are two DH trails with berms, jumps and drop-offs. If you fancy challenging yourself, why not take on the Forestry Commission's Super 6 challenge? This involves riding the six most northerly English trail centres - Kielder, Chopwell, Whinlatter, Hamsterley, Griezdale and Gisburn.

Dalby Forest is one of the bigger trail centres in England. It's got everything from green family trails to black-graded XC loops and a bike park area. The 34.3km red trail is a big undertaking, but it can be split into three distinct sections that can be ridden on their own, with green and blue options to take you back to the start point if you don't fancy the whole thing. It also gives you the option to hit the awesome blue-graded descent. If you fancy a weekend trip to the area, then also try out Sutton Bank trail centre, which is just 26 miles away.

Named after the nearby main road, Gloucestershire's 417 Bike Park is a veritable MTB playground. The rolling fields of this Cotswolds farm are filled with surfaced flow trails, rugged rock gardens and jumps, all of which are uplift-accessed. Besides the main trails, there's no shortage of airtime opportunities with 4X and dual slalom tracks, a field of dirt jumps and barns housing more dirt jumps and a tarmac pump track. This all makes the 417 Bike Park an ideal place to hone your skills.

The Lake District is a mountain biking hotspot, with some of the best natural trails the UK has to offer. Grizedale is slap bang in the middle between two beautiful lakes, Coniston Water and Lake Windermere. It's got serious elevation, which gives panoramic views over Helvellyn and beyond. Grizedale is famous for its outdoor sculptures, many of which can be viewed from the tamer trails. The red-graded North Face loop is perfect for intermediate riders who want an enjoyable but not overly technical singletrack ride. There's also a short black trail full of jumps, berms and steep descents, with a double-black-diamond option that's not for the faint-hearted. Grizedale is part of the Super Six (See Gisburn).

The Steel City is a hive of MTB activity, with advocacy group Ride Sheffield using the collective might of the riding community to preserve, improve and promote access for mountain bikers. There are three distinct areas, all close to the city, that are worth checking out, with everything from mellow blue trails to challenging descents. There are also some techy DH trails in Wharncliffe Woods on the opposite side of the road to Greno Woods, but we recommend going with a local the first time as they can be tricky to find.

On the edge of the wild North Pennines, the trails at Hamsterley Forest are cut into a steep-sided valley hidden in 2,000 hectares of woodland. There are three XC routes, totalling more than 30km of flowing singletrack, which are looked after by the Hamsterley Trailblazers volunteer group. The latest addition is K-Line – a red descent peppered with jumps. There’s also a playground of DH trails, the Descend Bike Park, which is run by 2016 world champ Danny Hart, who grew up riding here.

It may be just a stone’s throw from the M5, but this woodland mountain bike sanctuary succeeds in making you feel like you’ve been transported to deepest, darkest Devon. There are several waymarked trails, as well as some off-piste singletrack if you know where to look. The red-graded Ridge Ride begins with a flat and then downhill start, at odds with many UK trail centres. It’s great fun, but make sure you’re warmed up first – you can do this in the skills area by the car park.