キャノックチェイスの湖・トップ4

may need to take detours due to festival dismantal or no access to other routes minor issue but amazing walk

Lovely place to stop mid ride to take in the scenery.

Where do you park?

A picturesque location at the woodland's edge, perfect for pausing and savouring the beauty of the surroundings and what Cannock Chase AONB has to offer.

having just been in the area for 3 days and ridden all of these: Perry's blue, a new route post Commonwealth games, from the Birches visitor centre, is suitable for even the newest of MTB'ers - there is nothing technically hard. But there are some really fun berms even for experienced to enjoy and it has some good Red optional diversions as well. Follow the Dog is the next one up - a "light and fruity middling" Red - whilst some sections are steep, some are technical, some are loose/narrow/twisty - none are all 3 are at the same time. Suitable as a first time Red. And finally, Monkey is a proper hard red - some brutal sequential switchback climbs (Lung Buster), adverse camber rocky drops verging to "very dark oaky" red (Tom/Dick/Harry on Original Monkey). And the parts that are actually marked black are verging on Danny MacAskill.... Definitely not one for a first red.

A gorgeous spot to rest on the blue route by the pool with a bench. If you sit here for long enough you might catch a sighting of the kingfisher on the hunt or fish coming to the surface to look for bugs.

New additions to trails have opened in the last month or so! (May 2021) The blue has added some nice sections that give opportunity for progression with some easy berms and pump sections. The red some new jumps, berms and rock gardens at the start near the trail centre and birches valley car park

Fantastic spot for a picnic or lunch. Or even to stop and sit down on the various benches around. Be warned, it can get busy as it is a hot spot of cannock chase.