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    Home > Bikes > Mountain Biking > Routes

    Minchinhampton Mountain Bike Ride

    Nov 3, 2019 by Ian Carruthers | This post may contain affiliate links.

    Minchinhampton Common

    Using the Stroud valley sides

    The Stroud valley is steep sided and Minchinhampton being at the top of one side allows some great descents. Going down the valley sides does mean that you have to come back up and the climbs are pretty epic.

    Minchinhampton common is one of the largest grassland commons in the Cotswold area. It is south of Rodborough Common SSSI. Both commons are on Jurassic limestone and are a central plateau with steep sides. They drop down to the Nailsworth valley on the west side and the Stroud valley on the north side.

    The ride does off some challenges for those that fancy it, the majority of the climbing is on road. Given the gradients involved this could well be a good thing, the descents definitely reward the effort that goes into gain the altitude. The majority of the descents do use all of the gains made on the climbs leaving you to climb back up.

    There is a small overlap on the common with the Woodchester ride and shares the ladder descent. It also comes close to both the Nailsworth and Avening rides, so could be extended into either or both of these for a longer ride.

    Whilst it sounds like there is a lot of climbing already and the ride is a decent length, in good weather it would definitely be worth extending the day into the surrounding area. This area of the Cotswolds has some amazing vistas as well as some absolutely cracking single track to explore. Alternatively there's enough riding in the area to make it a weekend or even longer with riding around Cranham, Birdlip or Winchcombe which are only a short distance away.

    Minchinhampton MTB route

    Minchinhampton Mountain bike ride map
    Distance22km
    Time2-3hrs
    Climbing650m
    Starting locationRodbourgh
    Pubs, cafes The Bear of-Rodborough
    ParkingPub car park
    RouteView route on Strava
    View route on Komoot
    View route on Garmin
    Download GPX
    Minchinhampton Mountain bike ride  Elevation

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    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.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Craig Williams

      October 31, 2022 at 1:39 pm

      Hi Ian - thanks for this trail. Tried it out Sunday and found a few issues which would mean a couple of amends if you ever get around to it.
      The GPX files include a section in Box woods which can't be done as no bikes are allowed in Box woods. Need to stay on Pensile Road instead.
      The section down from Winstone's Ice Cream factory is pretty tricky in the mud with some quite difficult drops! But maybe that's my lack of experience.
      For the life of me, I couldn't find the connecting lane between Rope Walk and Thrupp Lane so had to go back and use the road.
      Otherwise, it was great fun... Cheers!

      Reply

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

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