Beacon Batch summit trig point – Charterhouse SSSI loop from Priddy Mineries

Mountain biking trails

Beacon Batch summit trig point – Charterhouse SSSI loop from Priddy Mineries

Moderate

5.0

(1)

riders

Beacon Batch summit trig point – Charterhouse SSSI loop from Priddy Mineries

02:19

30.3km

430m

Mountain biking

Moderate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: August 9, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Mendip Hills National Landscape

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

11.7 km

View from Mendip Hills Ridge

Highlight • Climb

Great views from the ridge between Beacon Batch and the edge of Rowberrow Warren. Looking north you can see up towards Bristol and out to the sea west. South if you go back over the ridge is over Cheddar and the Somerset Levels.

Tip by

12.6 km

WWII bombing decoy complex

Archaeological Site

13.0 km

Beacon Batch summit trig point

Highlight • Viewpoint

This special site is designated as a Site of Special Scientific interest for its valuable wildlife habitats and is a nationally important site for its archaeology from the late Stone Age and Bronze Age through to the Second World War. Black Down provides the largest area of open access on the Mendip
Hills at over 400 ha.

Black Down, like most heathlands, is formed through a combination of factors– soil type, rainfall and human activity. The underlying Old Red Sandstone rock together with high rainfall created a waterlogged and acidic soil. The removal of tree cover by our Bronze Age ancestors 2,000 years ago helped to make sure that the soil stayed damp and acid. Only certain plants can survive in this type of ground. The key species include heather or ling, bell heather, bilberry, purple moor grass and European gorse, along with mosses and lichens.

Now the bracken is managed by harvesting and grazing by cattle and wild ponies to allow the heathers and grasses to flourish again. Black Down supports a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.

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13.0 km

Beacon Batch Summit and Trig Point

Highlight • Natural Monument

325m high trig point with lots of views in all directions. It can get busy with walkers as there are lots of different routes to the top so be careful on the way back down.

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19.7 km

Rowberrow Warren Woods Bridleways

Highlight • MTB Park

In Rowberrow Warren Woods you'll find a large collection of bridleways and tracks through out the wood as well as lots of elevation changes. Off the side of the tracks are a number of singletrack trails of varying lengths and difficulties.
The network of bridleways on their own make for some great gravel riding and connect lots of local towns with some awesome views.
The ground is mostly clay and limestone and so can become very slippy and muddy in the wet.

Due to the large number of bridleways and the horse trekking centre you will come across lots of horse riders and groups especially in the summer. So keep an eye out and give them plenty of space, they are always friendly.

Tip by

24.7 km