AMBLESIDE, LAKE DISTRICT

DISTANCE 27.7KM (17.3 MILES) CLIMBING 960M (3,149FT) TIME 3HRS TO 4HRS 30MINS

Route summary A good low-level option, suitable for all conditions, with refreshments and bail-out options. This is a safer Lakes route for intermediate riders, but still fun and tough, with good views

Start/finish Rydal Road car park (postcode LA22 9AG, grid ref NT 378/047)

1 Go left out of the car park and take the first left, joining the path at the end. Cross the footbridge and turn right, then quickly left on a bridleway, uphill. Past Brow Head Farm, keep ahead, climb, then descend to a fork.

2 Bear right on the singletrack, down onto a track, then a road. Go right then quickly left. Keep right to a crossroads and go ahead, over a bridge, then left on a minor road. Fork left then right (towards Hawkshead).

3 Keep left at the next junction, then right on Bog Lane until it turns left, and you go straight onto a bridleway. Join a bridleway heading uphill. After 0.8km, continue into Iron Keld Plantation. Keep right at the T-junction, through a gate, and join a bridleway going right.

4 Descend to the tarmac and turn left. Go down then up, turn right on a minor road and quickly right on a bridleway. Ride to the bottom and turn left on the gravel track. Follow this to a road and go right on it.

5 Keep left, follow a byway to Hodge Close and go right on a track opposite the last cottage. Fork right to a crossing and go straight over a bridge to Little Langdale.

6 Turn left on the road, then quickly right, on a track past Dale End Farm, downhill. Pass through a gate and go left on a bridleway, uphill. Drop down, over a track (right then left) and through a quarry, following the signposts. Cross a bridge and turn left on the road, then right shortly after. Keep right, uphill.

7 Follow this road past a YHA hostel and go left at the T-junction. Head right on the bridleway. At the far end, turn right and beware of a drop-o in the rocky section. Past the caves, descend to a road and go right.

8 At the footbridge from earlier, head into Rothay Park. Turn right, ride onto Vicarage Road, go right at the end then immediately left on the High Street. Keep ahead/left on the A591 and go left into the car park.