Cumbria's first purpose built 'black bike run'

The trail was built by volunteers Credit: The Forestry Commission

The Forestry Commission in Cumbria is opening a new purpose-built mountain biking ‘black grade’ downhill trail in the heart of Grizedale Forest. The trail is just over a kilometre long and is the first purpose-built ‘black grade’ trail in the Lake District.

Mountain bike trails are graded by colour in a similar way to ski runs – green, blue, red and black – with black being the most difficult.

It has been created by a small team of passionate, dedicated and hard-working volunteers who are mountain biking enthusiasts.

The black trail adds to the existing mountain biking infrastructure in Grizedale forest, which includes the 16km-long red grade North Face Trail, a network of exciting bridleways and the Grizedale Mountain Bikes’ bike hire and shop.There are also several family bike trails using the forest roads network.