Arkengarthdale, Yorkshire Dales

Distance 21.1km (13.1 miles) Climbing 788m (2,585ft) Time 1hr 15mins to 2hrs

Start/ inish Dales Bike Centre, Fremington (grid ref SE 046/988, postcode DL11 6AW)

Route summary This route largely avoids the open moorland the Dales are famous for, but provides some great riding up and down the steep valley sides, for a di erent, but still stunning, Yorkshire loop. It’s got a bit of everything, including some superb technical trails and stunning views 1 Go left out of the centre. As the road bends left, turn right (‘High Fremington’). Go left at the T-junction, uphill. Continue straight on as the tarmac becomes a rough track, through a gate. Follow this to the houses at Hurst, then turn left. Go through a gate, to the top. Keep straight ahead/left, to a wall. Pass through the gate and follow the trail downhill, through a quarry.

2 Turn right at the bottom, by Storthwaite Hall. In Langthwaite, go left, over the bridge. Then turn right, on the main road. Just past The CB Inn, go right (‘Barnard Castle 10’). Keep ahead/right on this road, steeply uphill, for 1.5km. Then turn o right, on a wide gravel track with a fingerpost.

3 Follow this track through the quarries, keeping ahead/right where it splits, parallel to a wall. After another 250m, when the wall briefly bears away, turn right on a faint track, down to a gate. Keep ahead through the field and go through another wall near the wood. Turn left, between the wall and trees. 4 The trail soon drops down into the wood for a fun descent to a road. Turn right on the tarmac, back into Langthwaite. Go left before the bridge/main road, on the track you came along earlier. Follow this back to Stonewaite Hall, but this time keep ahead on the walled track.

5 Stay on this as it becomes a grassy track past a house and then a more defined section of singletrack, all the way down the valley. Turn right on the road in High Fremington, down to and left on the B6270, back to the start.