Telephone : John on 07970 101879
Cowm Quarry Whitworth opperated by Cowm Leisure is a 150 acre site which features natural terrain
for all off road vehicles. They have been organising trials bike events, 4x4 events over the last five
years and have become well established. The site is situated in a huge quarry. With all the benefits
and pitfalls that go along with a quarry. On a 4x4 off road day you generally have three options :-
- Green routes - Fairly easy and on dry days you should be able to complete most of these on all terrain tyres.
- Red routes - Requires a more aggressive tyre, diff guards, and a very good navigator is required.
- General Play - the site is so big, where the routes don't go you can go for a play. But remember it cost a minimum of
£25 if you need recovery from a marshal.
All the tricky parts of the routes can be avoided for the faint hearted. The water is not generally that deep (tee hee) but I'd check before you go and drive in.
This site was an old quarry and you should take special care when you approach the barriers as some of the
drops are very dangerous. But all of these are clearly marked and the routes have been place so that you don't
drive over the edge.
The site has some bike tracks that are fenced of from 4x4 - these do not take up much of the site and on 4x4
only days there are generally only 4x4 motors going round. The bikes tend to stick to the specialist circuits.
Location :
Back Cowm Quarry, Tong End Lane, Whitworth, Lancashire. Click
here
for a Streetmap map. Or
here
for a Google Earth Map.
Off Road Features :
- Mud runs - There are few good length mud runs. Do not attempt these without mud terrain tyres.
- Side slopes - Enough for several brown trouser moments.
- Steep hills - These can be very steep in places.
- Cold wind - As far as my friends and I can tell there is always a cold wind, come prepaired.
- Large Pond - At one end it can be driven by a car. At the other is a different matter.
Additional features offered by the site :
- Clean toilets. Always an added bonus and there are more than one so you don't need to return to the entrance to use them.
- Catering van which runs until about 3.00pm.
Opening times and dates :
Usually the last Sunday of the month but please check out their
web site
for the next opening date and times along with the alternative events they run there such as the Scorpion Challenge or the British Trials Bike Championships.
Pictures :
The photos are from various "Pay and Play days" and Northern Counties Off Road Triallers Club trials. Clicking on a photograph will take you to the gallery thumbnails page for that event.
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