Riding a fat tire mountain e-bike is fun, a lot of fun. Until you’ve ridden one yourself, it’s difficult to understand just how exhilarating it is to crush trail after trail atop a powerful bike that has the stability of a tank and the nimbleness of a mountain bike.
Fat tire e-bikes excel where other mountain bikes or commuter ebikes falter – the muddier, looser, or dustier a trail is, the better your fat tire bike will dig in and respond with traction.
So, while having fun on a fat tire mountain e-bike is a given, the only thing left to do is find incredible places to ride fat tire bikes in the UK. Fortunately, the selection of amazing trails is endless – but we’ve narrowed it down to the top 5 MTB trails in the UK so you can go outside and start pedaling.
1. Glentress Forest
A self-described “mountain biking mecca deep in the stunning Tweed Valley,” Glentress Forest is a beautiful park replete with professionally maintained mountain bike trails, bike hire, accommodation, coaching, showers, and other rider facilities.
There’s a fantastic mix of trails for different skill levels denoted by color (green, blue, red, black) along with a free-ride area that allows you to mix trail elements found across different grades.
To give you an idea of what to expect, check out the official trail map along with Strava course profiles for some of the routes:
2. Bedgebury Forest Trail Centre
At only a two hour distance from London, Bedgebury is an extremely underrated destination for fat tire MTB trail riding. Sure, there are places closer to the city, but none of them feature the relatively isolated beauty that Bedgebury does. Moreover, all of the trails are maintained continuously and well marked.
3. Swinley Forest Trail Centre
For Londoners who are trying to stick close to home while riding mellow trails with perfectly suited to fat tire e-bikes, there’s the Swinley Forest Trail Centre. With green, blue, and red trails, the overall vibe at Swinley is laidback even if the trails are packed (as they tend to be owing to their proximity to the city).
For a full rundown on Swinley, check out this excellent trail guide put together by the staff at mbr.co.uk.
4. TransCambrian Way
At over 160km, the TransCambrian Way is a lengthy and stunning trail that crosses through Wales and goes into the Cambrian Mountains. While you don’t have to trek across the entire trail, it makes for a beautiful daylong ride that would bring the best out of your fat tire e-bike.
Detailed route information can be found over at bikepacking.com’s excellent TCW feature.
5. Peak District National Park
The Peak District out of Sheffield features several unknown but spectacular MTB trails. Our favorite is the Ladyblower loop, a mellow and scenic trail with a great flow. Best of all, it’s much less packed on any given Sunday than a trail centre.
Check out this YouTube video to scope the lay of the land.