Chase Trails - Downhill MTB at Cannock Chase

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Downhill MTB at Cannock Chase

Stile Cop is the only dedicated site for downhill riding on Cannock Chase. Since 2004 Chase Trails have been working with the Forestry Commission and local downhill riders to make the best out of little hill.

Since 2008 we've been working with the Racer's Guild of Cannock Chase to bring the local riding community together through trail building and small scale, informal, timed practice sessions giving every level of rider the chance to test themselves against the tracks. Go to www.racersguild.co.uk for more details and to join.

Also known as Stile Cop Bike Park the hill has a total height drop of just 65 metres so it's crucial that we eek out every twist and turn on the hill. Like most of Cannock Chase the hill is fairly free-draining so winter clag isn't too much of an issue.

The trails are free to ride and open all year round, the only closures will be for maintenance or emergency reasons. These will normally be posted on our news page but there will always be somewhere to ride if we have work on.
Here's the lowdown on the trails;

Red Course
A smooth, wide, fast and flowing course. The original official course on the hill is aimed at intermediate riders with a series of drops and jumps all the way to the bottom. a good warm up for your first run although watch the carpet of loose pebbles during dry summer spells!

The Red Course also leads onto the following trails;

CDL. First left option off the red course, to start it gets tighter and steeper then the Red course. The over the 'gas line' and into some off camber roots and flatter corners. Drop off the tree stump and into a fast rooty rattle. Jump towards the fire road then hit the tight Red course finish.

Mega Trail. A pumpstastic, jumptastic playground. Break off CDL at the gas line and get ready to smile as you hit the flowing and pregressive We'll be working on theis until the end of 2011 at least.

Snakes ‘n Ladders. Head down the Red course through the large left hander and Snakes breaks right. One of the larger ladder drops on the hill sends you into the snaking steep chute. a small but sweet right hand climbing berm into a left hand hip. Elevated ladder drop into another sweet but tricky berm to finish. We have a new ending planned but work hasn't started yet.

Black Course
Starting on the same platform as the Red Course the Black is a narrow singletrack line on one of the flattert parts of the hill. A series of small jumps, drops and rock gardens take you down the hill. Some sticky off camber sections and a steeper chute brings you into the grand finale. A step down drop into a long right hand berm with a second step down to the finish line.

The Dark Side

For years the unofficial playground for local riders is a few metres up from the Red and Black course start platform. another platform opens up another range of trails;

Ridge Run. Open, fast and fun. Full speed all the way into sweeping corners, nice jumps with a series of tight and twisty corners towards the finish. Head straight over a short sharp root section into a neat drop through a tree to finish.
Little Bringe. Start on the Ridge Run and break left, off-camber corners and roots, things start to get trickier on this line.

Wonderland. Follow Alice through the looking glass for a wheels on the ground introduction into a more technical trail.

Balboa. Named after Rocky himself this trail started as an experiment in using bigger rocks on the hill, with a ladder drop and decent sized kicker to lead you into a fast singletrack finish.

New Line. Not-so-new anymore this is a culmination of various ideas from elsewhere on the hill and the minds of some of our more experienced local talent. Wide and fast to start, a rock garden take you into the trees for some serious roots and the 2 fastest drops on the hill, a squirmy surface and pinball feel into the tight trees is a must for any serious rider visiting the hill. Tested and given props by Steve Peat himself in the Racers Guild Charity event in the Autumn of 2008 you’ve got to be on it to get the most out of this trail.

All of the courses end along the same track at the bottom of the hill. Head for the end of the black course and spend no more than 10 minutes pushing back up the fire road to the top. There is no uplift service, the hill just isn't big enough.

Check the courses on foot before hitting them at speed. Full face helmets and body armour are strongly advised.