The first thing you need to be aware of is that to trail ride, you need to have a driving licence which allows you to ride the machine of your choice with insurance, road tax and a valid MOT if applicable. Your bike must be in a road worthy condition. If you are under age for such a driving licence you cannot use a public highway. Private land with granted permission or a private ‘pay and play’ specialist area is probably your only option.
Places to ride legally include routes known as BOATS (Byways open to all traffic) and UCRs ( Unclassified roads). Some legal routes in addition may have a TRO ( Traffic regulation order) which means it is an offence to ride or drive a motor vehicle.
Illegal routes include Restricted Byways, Footpaths and Bridleways. These areas are enforced and hot spots can patrolled by Police, CCTV can also be in place. You must not ride these routes! For this reason alone, It is worth having a professional guide to ensure you stay on the legal side and optimise your time riding by finding those lanes without the fuss of reading a map or using GPS as status of lanes can change regularly.
There are many local guides available. Boyd is one of the two co founders of the APTR, he offers a service to new and experienced riders.
Boyd Emmerich operates as a local guide with years of experience in the area. He can offer training on a one to one basis or in a group. He is based in the Buxton area of the Peak District. you can contact Boyd on 07779875151 or click here for his website OTT
Facebook groups
If you have your licence and a legal trail bike you can join rider groups such as the Peaks Adventure and trail group on Facebook. (Please answer the membership question). They have ride outs from time to time. Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1350816755748885/
The Association of Peak trail riders on Facebook is here Link: This is an action group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/peaktrailriders/
You Tube.
Andrew Richardson (co founder) has a Channel showing some of the lanes in the Peak District. Andrew has ridden the area for over 40 years and regularly guides other riders. Here’s a link to one of his many video’s https://youtu.be/9GUr6puTEm8
Trans European Trail (TET)
This is a group who provide an application (app) to download GPX files to your device. This will enable you to find the TET that runs throughout the UK and many other countries. You can find out more by checking out their website https://transeurotrail.org/
