All you need to know to have an epic three days in the Lake District
With its challenging terrain and jaw-dropping scenery, this is one of the best destinations for mountain biking in England. These three routes give a full lavour of what the Lakes can offer, for an epic weekend of riding
Formed by volcanic eruptions, tectonic action and glacial erosion in the last ice age, the Lake District’s landscape is striking, with its vast mountains, plunging valleys and numerous bodies of water. Despite the name, there’s actually only one lake here – Bassenthwaite. The rest are meres, waters, tarns or reservoirs. In the southern part of the National Park, a mix of mudstone, sandstone and limestone has been folded, faulted and eroded to create gentler scenery, alongside magma and granite outcrops that protrude from the ground in places. This unrivalled scenery means it attracts millions of visitors each year, and gets very busy at peak times. The good news is that the facilities have grown and improved alongside the area’s popularity.
Our easy and medium routes overlap one another. Sticking to the lower land around Ambleside, they take in the bright colours of the deciduous woods and the shelter of the coniferous plantations. With views of the surrounding rocky peaks and great flowing trails, they have the added benefit of greater safety and easy access to facilities along the way, providing safe but fun rides suitable for all weather conditions. Our hard route is
more adventurous, venturing deep into the barren, remote mountains for some technical rocky riding that requires fitness, skill, time and the weather to be on your side.
RIDE #1: AMBLESIDE
The eastern loop of the easy route is a short and relatively straightforward ride for the Lakes, with a stretch of tarmac to start and then just one significant climb, delivering us to High Skelghyll. Our effort is then rewarded with a long descent through Skelghyll Woods. You can easily pick up some speed here, but there’s a rocky section by Stencher Beck and it’s a popular trail, so ride with care. This loop would work well as a short acclimatisation ride if you arrive in the afternoon, or could be added to the medium route for a big day out.
Sharing its start with the medium route, the western loop doesn’t stray far from Ambleside, so expect it to be busy. As we leave town, we hit a steep gradient that rudely awakens our legs, but there’s plenty of traction so we have no excuses to offer to the significant number of walkers kindly offering encouragement. I fight the voice in my head questioning the effort required to move barely faster than walking pace, but keep my legs steadily pumping.
Thankfully, the descent is clear so can be enjoyed at speed, skittering around loose stony corners and leaping off lips as we go. At the bottom, the excellent Chesters by the River cafe is calling to me, but Russell can’t be tempted, even with the pull of their amazing homemade cakes. Gutted. Instead we make our way up onto Arnside, making use of a permissive path through the plantation. This offers not only great views from the top, but also access to a nice long descent along very changeable terrain. The mix of grippy rock interspersed with some slippery, muddy ruts has us concentrating before we get back onto more fun rocky trails with tight switchbacks to finish.
RIDE #2: BEYOND SKELWITH
We join our 15-mile medium loop part way through, because it shares its start with the western loop of the easy route. After a road climb, we fly back downhill on a fast-flowing trail carpeted with multicoloured leaves, including a tricky rooty section at the end that leads us onto a surfaced trail out of the woods. Following a mix of backroads and tracks, we finish with a superb technical trail of rocks and roots, past the quarry to Great
Langdale valley bottom. A steep tarmac climb greets us on the other side, but we’ve timed it well, with the sun setting across the mirror-still water of Grasmere, so with virtually everyone else having gone home, we’ve got the popular Loughrigg Terrace trail to ourselves.
The gradual descent features smooth sections between rocky outcrops to keep it interesting. With the lower trail beside Rydal Water now sadly sanitised, we stay up high and pass Rydal Cave, where stepping stones disappear off into the dark, yawning chasm. For us, Ambleside is calling, so we weave our way back into town in search of a well-earned meal and pint of the local stuff to sip in front of a roaring fire. I’m grateful to have got some
THE MIX OF GRIPPY STONES INTERSPERSED WITH SOME SLIPPERY, MUDDY RUTS HAS US CONCENTRATING BEFORE WE GET BACK ONTO MORE FUN ROCKY TRAILS
WE’ VE TIMED IT WELL, WITH THE SUN SETTING, SO WITH VIRTUALLY EVERYONE ELSE HAVING GONE HOME, WE’ VE GOT THE POPULAR TRAIL TO OURSELVES
good miles in my legs this winter, and I can’t think of many better places to ride in the UK at the moment (or any time, for that matter).
RIDE #3: STAVELEY
For our hard route we’ve gone big. It could be split into two rides, but ideally you’d want to add something else to the Garburn Pass loop, such as a detour onto the moorland singletrack at Green Quarter – but only when conditions are dry. The northern loop, taking in Nan Bield, is fantastic in its own right, although you’d want to start farther up the valley from Staveley, in Sadgill.
The advantage of starting from Staveley is the wealth of facilities you’ll have at the start and end of the ride – a bike shop, brewery, bakery, cafe, chippy, pub and more. It also means we begin with an easy spin along the tarmac to gently warm our legs up for today’s epic undertaking. With the hum of vehicles for company until we pass Ings – the last chance we have to pick up any supplies for the ride – our blood is now pumping and we’re ready to tackle the incline.
It’s a gradual grind up the tarmac to begin with, along a back road, until we peel off to continue the climb towards Dubbs Reservoir. Apart from weaving around a few puddles, the trail is pretty good and we’re soon greeted with wonderful views out across the fells to the central Lakes, and Lake Windermere down to our left. After a short, loose rocky section the climb eases and we’re able to cruise along and enjoy our surroundings, which eventually deliver us to the plateau of Garburn Pass.
After an innocuous start the descent soon morphs into a classic, rocky, sunken Lake District track, with large rocks bouncing and bumping our bikes off-line as gravity draws us down the ever-steepening gradient. Our eyes and brains battle with the assault on our senses that the vibrations, multiple line choices and impromptu directional changes bring. I appreciate it may not be for everyone, but coming from the safety and certainty of the riding in South East England, I relish the ever-changing character of these trails. It’s largely a case of hanging on as best we can, at the mercy of the landscape, but some sketchy switchbacks require careful caressing of the bike around their loose corners before we rattle down the last section into the green and pleasant pastures of Kentmere Valley.
A stint along the tarmac provides some relatively easy height gain, which is greatly
COMING FROM THE SAFETY AND CERTAINTY OF THE RIDING IN SOUTHEAST ENGLAND, I RELISH THE EVER CHANGING CHARACTER OF THESE TRAILS
appreciated because things are about to get tougher once again. A rocky byway leads us up and over the hill for a fun descent into the next valley and onto a fast farm track with little lumps to leap from, before a series of very steep corners requires our full attention and delivers us to Sadgill. Our route joins a flat track here, but as it heads north we feel like we’re venturing into remote and unknown territory. When the gradient starts to kick up and can be seen stretching off far into the distance, reality dawns. Gatescarth Pass is a relentless climb, with the towering peaks surrounding the barren landscape making us feel very small and insignificant as we plunge into this raw and rugged place.
Aware of the mental as well as physical fight that this ascent draws the rider into, I don my blinkers and get my head down, keen not to be reduced to walking it, which would only prolong the suffering. Some switchbacks and a false summit are torturous, but finally the sweet relief of a long, fast and open descent to Haweswater is well-earned. Flat-out descents like this aren’t usually my favourite, but to finally be covering ground quickly after the never-ending climb, leaping off rocks, I enjoy the simple sensation of speed.
However, the climb back up from here is a hard-fought hikea-bike session to scale the Nan Bield Pass, which always has my calf muscles burning. A few rest stops along the way afford time to appreciate the stunning views, and on warmer days Small Water Tarn would make for a very inviting dip. The final clamber up these tricky rocks is slow and energy-sapping, and will probably have you questioning your reasoning, but upon finally reaching the saddle of Nan Bield a wave of endorphins courses through my body. Not only is the view from here truly breathtaking, but a long, rocky descent stretches out before us and off into the far distance down the valley.
We take a break to enjoy the place, relieve our heaving lungs and let our muscles recover from their exertions, not least because the trail back down demands a significant effort of its own. It starts off steep, loose and rocky, with multiple tight switchback turns that try to catch you out. The large rocks require some speed and commitment to bounce over, otherwise you tend to drop into the gaps and the bike stalls. It’s easier said than done, but once we’re in the swing of things the trail guides us down.
Continuing to throw challenges our way with rocks, drops and water bars along the narrow trail, it’s certainly hard work and would be so even without tired limbs. But with gravity on our side, we’re able to enjoy this long section of technical singletrack as it leads us along the valley floor, finally delivering us back to the Kentmere Valley. The riding isn’t quite over, but thankfully it’s just a simple spin along the road back to Staveley. Slowly, the pain of the Garburn, Gatescarth and Nan Bield passes fades from our legs and minds, as the euphoria and endorphins from the epic descents prevail, carrying us back, pretty broken but still grinning, to Staveley Mill Yard, where some well-earned beer from the brewery waits to be sampled.