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    Home > Bikes > Mountain Biking > Routes > Midlands

    Cannock Chase, Trail Centre

    Mar 15, 2020 by Ian Carruthers | This post may contain affiliate links.

    Cannock Chase

    Follow the Monkey Dog

    Cannock Chase Forest is situated in the Midlands to the north of Birmingham. A Forestry Commission trail centre like Whinlatter and the Forest of Dean centres. Boasting the same excellent facilities ample parking, cafe, toilets, bike shop and of course the trails themselves.

    Cannock Chase is home to two dedicated, way marked, XC mountain bike trails - 'Follow the Dog' and 'The Monkey Trail'.   Cannock Chase is relatively flat , you won’t find that much climbing on Follow the Dog, there’s only one hill to climb up. The Monkey Trail is a mix of fast and flowing machine built trail and tight, twisty and technical hand built trails.

    If you're starting from the trail centre then you'll set off on the first half of follow the dog. Starting of pretty flat single track snakes through the woods until the first climb at only 50 m of elevation gain its not massive, however it does mean there is a descent to follow. The descent drops through a series of switchbacks down to the decision point for the Monkey trail. Continue back to the trail centre or cross the road and complete the Monkey trail?

    Monkey start with a climb or more a series of climbs and descents, but no serious climbing! Lots of fun single track sections from flowing line to rock gardens there is a pretty good mix of everything you could possibly want. The anticlockwise loop rejoins follow the dog after crossing the road again small climb is required and then it's almost downhill all the way back to the Birches valley visitor centre.

    Downhill

    Stile Cop bike park is home to Cannock Chase’s only downhill trails, with around a dozen trails to choose from over varying difficulty levels. Despite having only 65 meters of elevation, the hill has a wide variety of trails to keep riders busy. Each run lasts around a minute, but there’s enough to keep you busy for a good many hours.

    Cannock Chase Mountain Bike Trails

    Cannock Chase Map
    Distance20km
    Time2-3hrs
    Climbing500m
    Starting locationBirches Valley
    Pubs, cafesBirches Valley Cafe
    ParkingBirches Valley
    RouteView route on Strava
    View route on Komoot
    View route on Garmin
    Download GPX
    Monkey and Follow the Dog trail map
    Stile cop trail map

    More Midlands Mountain Bike Routes

    About MTB Foodie

    MTB Foodie is a UK mountain biking blog covering routes, maintenance, travel and food. Ian can be found chasing awesome trails and thrills around the South West and beyond.

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    I’m Ian aka MTB Foodie… have bike, will ride! Found chasing awesome trails and thrills around the South West. Addicted to mud, gravel and hills, with a healthy balance of travel and food.

    Hit me up with any questions, enquiries or new trails to ride at: blog [AT] mtbfoodie.com

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    I’m Ian aka MTB Foodie… have bike, will ride! Found chasing awesome trails and thrills around the South West. Addicted to mud, gravel and hills, with a healthy balance of travel and food.

    Hit me up with any questions, enquiries or new trails to ride at: blog [AT] mtbfoodie.com

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