Tilgate Forest - Singletrack and Downhill near Crawley, Sussex
Tilgate Forest resides parallel to the south side of the M23 between junctions 10 and 11. As part of the UK cycle network it's fine to ride bikes there. From the point marked on the Google map there are pylons that run across the forest.
Downhill/Freeride trails
If you're looking for downhill and freeride, follow the pylons along and after about five mins pedaling you'll find yourself at the top of a hill that leads into a cluster of large double jumps. Facing downhill there is another freeride/downhill area on the left. This starts with some nicely crafted berms and leads into double jumps and some big drops and road gaps. Continuing along the side of the hill, further jumps can be found ending at some finely finished dirt jumps near an alternate entrance to the forest.
The majority of the downhill/freeride stuff is fairly large and not for the inexperienced but there are select parts that would probably be manageable by novices.
XC and Singletrack trails
To the left of the pylons are a network of fireroads through some fairly dense woodland with single track in between. Graduating left from the pylons there is a footbridge across the M23. If you continue along the forest to the left of the entrance to the bridge, you can find some interesting singletrack that looks like it's started life as a motocross route. As a result this has left ruts and berms that snake through the forest.
Near the bridge over the M23 uphill to the left a little, is another set of large finely formed dirt jumps. You'll need to be checking the singletracks into the trees to find these.
How to get there
We didn't find a proper car park near where the pointer on the map is. There's a layby in the narrow lane where you can park.
There's no restriction on when you can ride. People have clearly put a ot of work into the riding facilities so be respectful and don't wreck anything or leave litter.
There are signs on the some of the trees from southerndownhill.com about the good relationship between MTB riders and the forestry commission.
There are two locations like this on either sides of the pylons
The entrance on Parish Lane where pylons cut across
Singletrack near the M23
Dirt Jumps under pylons followed by large road gap
Downhill and dirt jumps
You can see the bermed area here. There are about 5 to 6 berms that link up before the hill finishes so this isn't as long as it looks in the vid.