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Parenting Guide: Top Family Bike Trails
Cycling is fantastic for getting all the family outdoors and active together. Loads of day trips and family vacations can be built around biking - and here is our parenting guide to help you and your kids cycle your way to a healthier life!
Cycling
Cycling around the country is a brilliant way to get some exercise, and it also teaches your kids a brilliant skill for life. You can encourage this by taking them on biking holidays, mixing comfort with adventure, and rest with exercise.
The following are some of the best bike trails in the UK.
1) Pitsford Water Reserve, Northamptonshire
The nine kilometers of waterside track that has been lain down at Pitsford has been done so with families in mind: the gradient is kept as low as possible, making it perfect for riders of all ages to enjoy biking the route. Bike hire is available from Brixworth Country Park. Afterwards you can stroll around the nature reserve and spot wild birds from one of the eight hides. There is a wealth of scenery on show, all within a safe environment.
2) Cannock Chase, Staffordshire
Whether you want a technical cross-country blast, a downhill challenge or just some plain-sailing pedaling you’ll find something all the clan can enjoy in this Area of National Beauty. Three different trails offer excellent routes free of charge and suitable for every interest, from nature lover to daredevil. Best of all, Swinnertons Forest Centre (next door to the visitors’ centre) has bike and helmet hire so you don’t need to lug your gear in the car.
3) Seafront Cycle Ride, Portsmouth
Pick up trail leaflets from Portsmouth’s Visitor Information Centres
This 4.5-mile ride is a great day out, taking in loads of sights along the way. Beginning at Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard, you pedal alongside and Southsea Common, perfect for picnics, flying kites or just enjoying the fresh air and taking in the views of the Solent. Further on is the Blue Reef Aquarium where you can see all sorts of fantastic sea creatures, Southsea Castle and the Royal Marines Museum. And after that lot you’ll deserve an ice-cream.
4) Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
www.sustrans.org.uk
This beautiful family-focused National Trust park has 3,800 acres of woods, open-heath and rolling farmland and the longest double avenue of lime trees in Europe. The 20 miles of red shale cycle paths criss-cross it all. There’s a bike-hire too with all sorts of oddities, from tandems to tricycles. For some more fun, route six of the National Cycle Network links Clumber with legendary Sherwood Forest.
5) Loch Ard, Aberfoyle, Scotland
Starting out at the village of Aberfoyle, the easiest loop (7 miles) takes you down to the loch, one of the most picturesque in the whole of Scotland. Rivers tumble down the hillsides, Ben Lomand mountain looms in the distance and elves, fauns and fairies are said to live amid the bristly trees that are reflected by the mirror-still water. Longer trails into Loch Ard Forest are well signposted and have interesting sculptures along the way.
