Hicks Lodge: The National Forest Cycle Centre

Contact Hicks Lodge directly on 01530 274533.

Hicks Lodge, which is owned by Forestry England, is a fantastic day out for the whole family - from budding cyclists to the more confident. Set in beautiful young woodland at the heart of the National Forest, it has been designed with the whole family in mind with a variety of trails to explore.

The trails are graded according to their difficulty - so you can choose flat and easy paths or the more difficult twists and turns of the singletrack trails.

The Hicks Lodge Trail, a flat and wide 2km path around the lake, is great for walkers, cyclists and even horses.

The Family Forest Trail (2km short loop and 4.5km long loop) takes you on an exploration across the whole site, there are some hilly bits but it's still suitable for bikes, trikes, tagalongs, wheelchairs and pushchairs.

The Wood Farm Trail (2.5km) introduces cyclists to easy singletrack and the Shell Brook Trail (7km) brings on more technical features on a moderate graded singletrack which is suitable only for mountain bikes.

If you're making a day of it you can stop halfway round the Family Forest Trail at the fantastic viewpoint for a picnic.

Warm up afterwards in the stunning eco-friendly visitor centre with cafe, bike hire and repair shop, showers and a wood-burning stove for chilly days.

Download the cycle centre leaflet in the links to the right for more information including a map of how to get here.

Although designed for families, watch some top cyclists in action at Hicks Lodge in the 2012 Midlands XC Series which took place on 19th February 2012. http://vimeo.com/37253636

The trails are free to use. Car parking charges apply.

The centre has been developed through a partnership of the Forestry Commission and the National Forest Company, and is particularly suitable for families and novice cyclists.

The project has been funded by 6Cs Strategic Green Infrastructure Growth Fund and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership. It is another outstanding environmentally sustainable building by architects Pick Everard, after their success with YHA National Forest.  The Cycle Centre visitor centre is heated by a wood chip boiler, energy generation is by solar panels and the building uses recycled rainwater.