My Trails: Swinley Forest

I haven’t seen another human for an hour. As I turn down another narrow gravel path, suddenly I’m face to face with oncoming traffic, a train of Belted Galloway cows. I hesitate, then give way as they amble past me. This morning I chose a local trail running adventure, and so far it’s delivering.

I’m in Swinley Forest, running the 17km circular route that takes in a good selection of its outer trails. Despite this being one of the longest Swinley routes on All Trails, the reality is it’s a tiny fraction of a 2600 acre forest that appears to have an infinite number of route options.

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Realising I’m off track, I change to map view on my watch and retrace my steps. This time, the cows let me through.

I started, and will end my run at the Look Out Centre car park. It was empty when I arrived at 7am but will be almost full when I return. Swinley Forest is no secret. Situated between Bracknell and Crowthorn, it’s one of the most popular spots in the South East of England for mountain bikers (and dog walkers). But on this early Saturday morning, the forest is my playground.

The wonderful thing about Swinley Forest is its accessibility. I love that you can rock up and hit the trail straight out of the car park. Within seconds you’re deep in nature, immersed in the forest.

As I say goodbye to the cows, I continue onwards. I’d turned off the audiobook in my headphones to let them pass, and decide to leave it off for the rest of my run. A soundtrack of bird song in the tall pine trees above me, with the rhythmic crunch of gravel under foot is doing it for me this morning.

A few more wrong turns later and eventually I make it back to the car park. The peaceful bird song is replaced by kids shouting in the adventure playground, dogs barking, babies crying and coaches dropping passengers at Go Ape.

Everyone gets to choose their adventure in Swinley, and I’m glad I chose mine today.