So, onto the route(s). Follow the dog is a fun route to ride with some nice fast flowing single track as well as some tight and twisty stuff. Features on the trail include rock gardens, board walks, drop offs, hop ups and some rollers. Its not the hilliest of trails out there with around 500ft of elevation the majority of which is in one climb up a fire road. However with this out the way it means you can enjoy thrashing it out for the rest of the trail. If it’s your first time on a red route you might find a couple of the obstacles a bit challenging, one of the rock gardens that appears quite early on is a bit of a baptism of fire if you’re inexperienced but probably serves as a bit of a warning sign of what’s to come later on, especially if you opt to ride the Monkey trail loop as well. To get to the monkey trail you will follow the dog until the trail forks and you will see a sign pointing towards the monkey trail, follow the sign over the bridge and across the road and you will find yourself at the start of the Monkey trail loop.
Chase trails Follow The Dog
&
The Monkey Trail
The Monkey trail ups the ante a bit. Immediately you will find yourself riding a sharp incline and while there is only another 700ft of elevation on this loop, it comes in the form of multiple short steep inclines with switchbacks, this makes for a more technical and tiring experience and sets the tone for the rest of the loop. The bonus is that there are also more down hill sections with a mixture of fast flowing and technically challenging sections with switchbacks and rock gardens, jumps and drop offs. There are also some optional black sections along the route that just nip off to the side of the red however if the words “large unavoidable rocks” doesn’t appeal to you, I’d stick to the red. With the centre being popular you will find that there are braking bumps into a lot of the switchbacks however it is a well maintained trail and I’ve never found them to get to the point of ridiculousness. While the monkey trail is the more challenging of the two, it’s also the more enjoyable to ride and if you are confident on the bike, I’d encourage you to do it. As the monkey trail comes to an end you will cross back over the road where you crossed before (unless you fancy a second lap) and continue along the last few miles of follow the dog back to the car park.
Skill Level Red with some optional black sections
Length 6.73 miles & 7.46 miles individually – 14.19 miles all together
Elevation gain 1200 ft
The trails at Cannock chase are extremely popular with cyclists of all levels with many towns and cities within an hour’s drive of the chase it’s hardly a surprise. If you’re a reasonably fit, competent MTBer I would aim for early morning or late afternoon/early evening if you’re going at the weekend, as you would imagine it’s quieter during term time week days. While the red route is generally quieter than the blue and green routes you will inevitably come across the odd gaggle of plonkers who think they are “red route ready” especially at peak times. Having said that, I’ve always found that if you come flying up behind them breathing heavily and with a determined look on your face that they move out of the way pretty quickly.
What else is there to ride?
Like all trail centres there are a number of options. At Cannock you also have a couple of green routes. The pedal and play trail at 1.2 miles aimed specifically at kids with the aim of building their confidence on different surfaces and the Fair Oak trail at 2.5 miles which is a circular family route with lots of wildlife to look at (apparently)
Since 2021 there is also a blue route called Perry’s trail. With it’s gentle berms, rollers and rollable rock gardens it’s ideal for progressing your skills if you’re a novice or taking your kids on if they are ready for the next step in their MTB journey. I’ve never ridden it myself but I’m told that it’s fast flowing smooth nature makes it quite good fun even if you’re a seasoned mountain biker.
Something quite unique about Cannock chase, in England at least, is that it also has a dedicated DH area called Stile Cop, while it only has about 65 metres of elevation, there are multiple routes down and plenty to keep you entertained. They even have dedicated build days where you can join in. more information can be found on the dedicated stile cop website.
As far as trail centres go, it’s the best on offer in the midlands area, i'd probably describe it as the lower end of difficulty for a red route. Newbies might find it a bit of a challenge but any seasoned MTBer will fly around it without really seeing the obstacles as a challenge.
If you need to appeal to the family to get your MTB fix there are all the usual forestry commission site activities available from going ape to segway tours as well as picnic and play areas for the younger ones. There is also an on site café so you can grab a coffee and a slice of cake at the end if you need it!
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