HONISTER, LAKE DISTRICT

DISTANCE 13.3KM (8.3 MILES) CLIMBING 735M (2,411FT) TIME 2HRS 30MINS TO 4HRS

Route summary: A short but very steep and technical ride that’s slow going but offers amazing views and surely a good story afterwards, especially if you overnight in one of the bothies! Don’t underestimate the challenge of this one

Start/finish: Seatoller National Trust car park (postcode: CA12 5XN, grid ref: NY 246/138) 1

Turn right out of the car park for a long and steep climb up the B5289 to Honister Pass. There are some trails to the right-hand side of the road if you wish to use them. Turn in, left, at Honister Slate Mine, keeping ahead/right past the cafe, and follow the wide track (minding the buses along here!).

2

Keep left at the doubletrack fork, climbing steeply. Zig-zag up the hairpin bends and keep left at another fork. Go through the mining area and past a small, dilapidated tin hut. As the wide track goes straight ahead (into a quarry clearing) and right, turn left on a lesser-used track. The bridleway continues ahead when this trail quickly bears left, downhill, but there isn’t much of a track and the wider path rejoins it by Dubs Hut.

3

Keep ahead, along the right-hand side of the valley, on what soon becomes a very technical descent, which requires great care and skill to ride. Navigating is simple, but the riding isn’t, with large rock slabs, drops and loose stones throughout. Follow the path as it levels out at the bottom, to a road. Turn right on the tarmac for a steep climb back to Honister Pass.

4

Descend on the road after the pass but look out for a track that bears off the tarmac where the road forks and climbs. This briefly rejoins the tarmac before going back off (signed ‘Coast to Coast’). Follow this track, which becomes progressively rougher, veering away from the road to a permissive bridleway on the right, which drops you back down to Seatoller to finish.

THE LOCATION: The Lake District has some of England’s most stunning landscapes and a really wild feel. You’re never far from people, though, as the area is popular all year round.

GETING THERE: Exit the M6 at junction 40 and follow the A66 to Keswick, then take the B5289 south. Seatoller is on the B5289, at the bottom of Honister Pass. MAPS & BOOKS: Ordnance Survey Landranger 89: West Cumbria. Lake District Mountain Bike Routes by Tom

Hutton (Out There Guides)

FACILITIES: Honister Slate Mine has a cafe and overnight parking (www. honister.com). For bike stuff, head to Bike Treks in Keswick (www. bike-treks.co.uk).

THE BOTHY: Dubs Hut (located at NY 209/134) has a wood-burning stove, but you’ll need to bring fuel. There’s another bothy, Warnscale Head, just off the route at NY 205/133.