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Gisburn Forest

Type:Forest Area / Park

Gisburn Forest, Gisburn, Lancashire

Tel: 01200 446 387

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Gisburn Forest

All year round, Gisburn Forest offers different experiences for different people.  Explore on foot, on horseback or by bike.  Find popular trails and quiet glades or explore this accredited Dark Sky Discovery Site after dark.

The largest forest in Lancashire, Gisburn is home to a network of waymarked forest walks and 16km of cycle trails (singletrack and forest road sections).
 
Cycle hire and group tours are available (by prior arrangement) from Cycle Bowland and Cycle Adventure.  ​​​​​​However you choose to enjoy the forest, Gisburn’s café is the perfect place to end your adventure with a well-deserved treat.

Mountain bike trails:
Bottoms Beck trail - blue graded trail with sections of green.   Drop down the causeway over Stocks Reservoir and bounce along Eggberry Road.  A mellow section of green trail follows an old railway line beside Bottoms Beck.  Flow along the funky blue singletrack of Park Wood, before swooping down from the top of Cocklet Hill.

Hope Line and Leap of Faith - if you like your downhill bike trails twisty and fun, then you will enjoy this trail.  The Hope Line is a land of berms, jumps and drop-offs.  The Leap of Faith is just that, grab your handlebars and go for it.  Full face helmets and body armour needed for this trail.

Skills loop - three linked, mini loops of trail, packed with technical features and obstacles, offer progressively harder riding.  Learn, practice and perfect your riding skills before heading out on the trails.  

The 8 - laid out in a figure of 8.  Highlights include the volunteer-built Home Baked, the gnarly Whelp Stone Crag and the optional section of black trail, the roller coaster ride Hully Gully.  This trail includes forest road, red and blue graded single track with some optional black grade features.
 
Car park charges apply (ANPR, pay on exit).
Parking free for members. 

Book Tickets

Prices

Ticket TypeTicket Tariff
Free entryFree

Parking charges apply for non members.

Opening Times

Open Christmas
Open New Year
Season (1 Jan 2024 - 31 Dec 2024)

Awards

  • Sub-Regional AwardsPartner of Visit Lancashire Partner of Visit Lancashire 2018
  • National AwardsDark Sky Discovery Site Dark Sky Discovery Site 2016

Directions

Road Directions

From Clitheroe: follow B6478 North.From Settle: A65 South then B6478 west.From Lancaster: Minor road to Abbeystead and Newton South. At Newton B6478 North.

Facilities

Other

  • Open All Year
  • Outdoor

Parking & Transport

  • Car Parking

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What's Nearby

What's Nearby

What's Nearby

  1. Cocklet Hill - picnic site

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Related

Gisburn, Ribble ValleyGisburn is a thriving village with a long history. Situated on the A59, between Clitheroe and Skipton, its wide main street still retains some of its cobblestones.

credit Robert Ince Dark Sky Discovery Sites, Dunsop Bridge4 Dark Sky Discovery Sites in Bowland at Beacon Fell Country Park, Crook O'Lune Picnic Site, Slaidburn and Gisburn Forest Hub. There's no better time to explore Bowland's dark skies.

Ribble Valley E-Bikes Hire, ClitheroeAnd what better place to start than the centre of the UK? Ribble Valley E-Bikes is based in Dunsop Bridge; the very heart of the Hodder Valley.

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