Gravel and mountain biking from Bodmin — Exploring North Cornwall

Formerly Cornwall’s county capital before Truro’s cathedral was built and more people moved further west, Bodmin is a hive of activity in North Cornwall. Situated close to a train station and right next to the A30 main trunk road, it’s certainly easy to get to, but that’s far from the best bit. With glorious coastlines both to the north and south, as well as miles upon miles of quiet inland trails, Bodmin makes for a great base camp for exploring North Cornwall.

From rocky gravel tracks to dedicated hand-built mountain biking trails, traffic-free riverside cycleways to quiet rural lanes and hill summits to seaside promenades, you can enjoy a huge variety of landscapes and trails here.

Whether you’ve got a gravel bike, mountain bike or sturdy, wide-tyred tourer, there’s definitely something in this Collection of off-road routes for you. Most start and finish at Scarlett’s Well, a free car park on the traffic-free Camel Trail just a stone’s throw from central Bodmin.

You can choose from inland gravel at Goss Moor, estuary riding to the north on the Camel Trail, or mountain biking trails at Cardinham Woods and Lanhydrock. Or, head to the south coast to explore delightful Fowey via disused tramways, now converted to traffic-free cycleways. There are also plenty of field-edge and woodland bridleway tracks, as well as miles of quiet, yet very hilly, country lanes to link up these idyllic locations.

Bodmin Parkway is the closest railway station, with good links to the town thanks to the cycle network through Lanhydrock which means you can avoid the worst of the main roads. There’s also a good selection of accommodation options in and around Bodmin, though be sure to book well in advance as it’s a popular area.

For the best riding conditions, choose spring or autumn, when the lanes, beaches and cafes are all quieter than in the main summer season. Then you can really enjoy either the emerging greenery and bluebells of spring or changing colours of autumn in the plentiful woodland.