Painswick beacon open upland area with stunning views of the whole of Gloucestershire. Whilst the views from the beacon are indeed stunning iit e right weather and do off the opportunity for some great sunset shots. Views and ambiance are only the icing on the cake.
The whole area surrounding the Painswick beacon is crossed with trails, from flowing single track to rocky drops. Roughly centred on Popes wood we start by heading over to Teachers, I don't know why it's called teachers, neither do I know why there is a Strava segment named "the new safe teachers". All I know is that it's a pretty fun descent that ends in a picturesque valley.
Back towards the starting point there is the wall descent another cracking descent that criss crosses a wall, hence the name. there is the option before descending the wall to get a cheeky little extra descent on Sabotage or Boyzone, see the Cranham ride for the details on those descents.
Otherwise we over to the beacon for those views, the trails off the beacon aren't too shabby either. Starting with a rock stepped descent off the top and going in some flowing trails. The transition of the golf course offers up a playground for those that wish to freeride, the bunkers and rough offer opportunity to grab some air.
Nearly in Painswick is the wooded section known as walkers, a couple of nice flowing single tracks through the woods along with a slightly longer one on the other side of the road. Painswick Rococo Garden at this point in the ride offers the opportunity for a cafe stop should the need arise.
Depending on your energy level the ride ends back in Popes wood where you can play until you've had enough of downhill action. The climb back up isn't to arduous and it only 5-10 minutes from the pub when you decide enough fun has been had and a well earned pint is the order of the day.
Painswick MTB Route
| Distance | 16km |
| Time | 1-2hrs |
| Climbing | 560m |
| Starting location | Royal William |
| Pubs, cafes | Royal William |
| Parking | Royal William |
| Route | View route on Strava View Route on Komoot View route on Garmin Download GPX |
Some of the trails are shared with Cranham, Birdlip and the Grumpy Run . So go check those out if you enjoyed this kind of riding.
This ride is form our wednesday night series for more rides and routes take a look at our wednesday night rides.
Did you ride this route? Comment here!