Sorry if you’ve read this in another thread but I wanted to bring out the Lakes rides element more prominently. Heading up for 3 rides in 3 days in a few weeks to give the new Whyte T130rs a good time 😉
Here’s what I’ve done before, but would like to do something I’ve not done:

Whinlatter N & S
Back O’ Skiddaw
Skiddaw/Ullock Pike
Helvellyn up Keppel Cove/down Sticks
Ullswater shore/Martindale/Boredale Hause
High Street/Thornthwaite Crag from Hartsop
Borrowdale Bash
Bit of mincing between Black Sail/Styhead passes whilst camping in Wasdale
Claife Heights
Garburn loop from Staveley
TNF at Grizedale (about 9 years ago last time!)
Grisedale Pike/Hobgarton Crag/Grasmoor/Whiteless Pike from Buttermere (Gasgale Gill)
Loughrigg/Langdales/Hodge Close – barely remember as years ago and got lost

So what am I missing?
I’d like the best smiles-per-miles I can get from Walna Scar.
I’ve heard Grizedale Forest non-TNF is very good.
Descent down into Borrowdale from Esk Pike sounds good.
Is Nan Bield right up there?
Don’t mind a bit of nav but don’t wanna be checking maps every 2 mins and not enjoying the flow.

Any suggestions gratefully received along with tips/links/downloads etc.
Thanking you muchly

christ, think you’ve got it covered.
Ullswater singletrack and extend to brothers water & high street? or over to Haweswater. I’ve never done that route just thinking of things not on your list.

Nan Bield is worth a ride.

down patterdale?

And before you think about it don’t bother with Dolly Wagon!

Edit: If you do Sticks Pass head down Seldom Seen, way better than the bottom of Sticks.

There is a Big hole in your’e CV, the Tour of Gable.

Plus Nan Bield is a must, Alpine like switchbacks, those that can’t ride hate it with a vengeance, lower grassy section will be a tad moist at the moment.

Hellvellyn’s a must. I’ve done it but never again.
Back O Skiddaw (Skidder as they say in Cumbria eh?) I’ll do that again.
High Street’s Ok cos your’e up there but it can be a slog.
Nan Bield’s ok but you have to get up 1st. There’s no way I could ride down it to Haweswater & getting up is a slog. (done it both ways) Down to Kentmere is excellent.

Ton to the forum!

Oh yeah up Stakes pass from borrowdale, Angle tarn then the great descent from Esk hause to Seathwaite, most excellent.

The trick with Walna Scar is to add a little something on once you get to the car park on the Coniston side. I tend to go left then turn off onto a FP that descends on the south side of Church Beck. Great fun.

There are some other excellent options heading S out of Tilberthwaite back towards Coniston Coppermines if you wanted extra. Hole Rake I think it’s called.

Bookmarked. 🙂

Stuff around Grizedale like Parkamoor is good but a bit “mappy” if you dont know it.

Wayne, I’ve not ridden loads of Lakes stuff but you know the sort of stuff I like and Parkamoor is one of my favourite descents anywhere! There’s also loads of other good stuff in Grizdale.

Yep up langstrath from borrowdale, over sticks, up Rossetti, down from esk haus to stay head and back down to seatoller. You can cut out the descent of sticks/ climb of Rossetti by doing a cheeky over the do, but I think the descent of sticks is well worth the climb.

And yes grizedale forest is very good, got shown around by a local.

Also I did garburn for the first time on Sunday, was good going w-e, combined it with some stuff round stavely / kentmere which made for a great day out.

And yes nan bield is worth doing!

Fairfield Horse shoe down Alcock Tarn starting at Sweden Bridge
Nan Bield Via Garburn yoke ill bell
I liked but Old man of Coniston dropping down to Brown Crag to Walna Scar finishing off with Coppermines.
Red Screes from Sweden Bridge to the Summit then FP back down to Ambleside
Hodge Close loughrigg area lots of cheeky

ergal – Member
Oh yeah up Stakes pass from borrowdale, Angle tarn then the great descent from Esk hause to Seathwaite, most excellent.

My fave descent in the lakes that one.

El bouffador is getting a bit mixed up, sticks pass is a bit away from the top of langstrath!

4 passes
Tour of coniston – with parkamoor and seathwaite descents included.

love a good old lakes thread.

Basing it around YH availability at the mo.
Current contenders are Whinlatter on Sat as I won’t have a full day as travelling there/Langstrath up and down past Styhead Tarn back to B’dale/Either Hodge Close area or Walna Scar…still needs a fair bit of sorting but that’s the fun bit! 😉 Anyone up there weekend after next?

My favourite lakes ride is up sticks pass to helvellyn then down dolly wagon and grizedale tarn down to patterdale.

That way round you get a climb that’s mostly rideable and some incredible descents. Dollywagon especially is truely unique, riding down endless steep rock steps while desperately trying to bunnyhop the water bars! Then grizedale tarn has some awesome slab sections that are almost smooth in comparison.

Oh and grizedale and whinlatter have some awesome trails tucked away if you’re into enduro (sorry) style tracks.

UP Sticks Down Dollywagon brilliant!.. haha

I was up Whinlatter at the weekend and as I passed the gate it occured that an easy additon to the south loop would be to ride push up Grisedle Pike and then back down.

My favourite lakes ride is up sticks pass to helvellyn then down dolly wagon

Troll or sadist?!

I was up Whinlatter at the weekend and as I passed the gate it occured that an easy additon to the south loop would be to ride push up Grisedle Pike and then back down.

Yup, just as you reach the top of the south there is a little push through the trees to head up Grisedale Pike.

My plan as it stands is to do Walna Scar on the Sat…something central around the Langdales/Iron Keld Sunday then up to Keswick to possibly add Grisedale Pike to Whinlatter, or part of the BB to Langstrath up to Esk Hause area and down into Seathwaite then finish th BB. Loose but getting there. Does this sound like a satisfactory Lakes biking weekend? Any advice on these specific rides would be good…namely best I can get out of Walna bearing in mind the next 2 days of riding. Fancy a low level pootle around an area I’ve been in before and like but very vague about what I rode so should still feel fresh i.e. from Grasmere through to Hawkshead – and lastly how to get off Whin south up to Grisedale Pike and rejoin at the right place. Cheers

Good rides, but tbh the lakes is ace for basing yourself in one area and not moving the car til it’s time for home, you’re gonna have to travel each day really.

You’re going from whinlatter to south lakes, then onto langdales then back up to north lakes?.

How about Friday whinlatter, Saturday 4 passes, Sunday langstrath to esk hause and down to Stockley bridge, base yourself at borrowdale yh, so no driving after whinlatter, means couple of beers post ride without having to drive.

I like Nan Bield and it has its plus points. Brutal climb up Gatesgarth Pass and then if you go left and mildly cheeky up again over Harter Fell and then down to the top of Nan Bield Pass it is a great ride with plenty of challenge up and down.
We rode it tonight and it was pissing down and slippery as hell. Up top was a like a Fisherman’s Friend advert with rain lashing your face. I tried to make a fist of the craggy descent off Harter Fell and had a good sized over the bars and have two nicely swollen knees and I am walking like a Thunderbird puppet. The drop down Nan Bield was great at the top and then greasy with rocks to the reservoir. The last section was a bog fest.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but if you have a day rather than a night then mixing in some Garburn action and even linking the cheeky bits Postie Rich mentioned would be better.

and lastly how to get off Whin south up to Grisedale Pike and rejoin at the right place. Cheers

As Breadcrumb says, when you get to the top of the South loop look for the little path heading off towards the ridgeline. You could descend Grisedale Pike directly back towards Braithwaite and then pick up a BW from Thornthwaite back to the visitor centre. There are ways of getting back onto the Whinlatter fire road network a bit further down, too, which would let you reclimb without too much effort to do the south descent. Have a look on aerial on Google Earth.

TBH though, if you’re going to to the trouble of pushing up GP, just keep going round Whiteless and return via Rigg Beck.

Nobeer – drive to Coniston and dump car, ride, after-ride beers, sleep…drive to Grasmere next morning, dump car, ride etc…drive to Keswick next morning, ride etc – you get the picture. So one direction south to north – that works doesn’t it? Not driving anywhere after a ride….I made sure there were after ride beers…don’t you worry about that 😉

Beautiful thread.

I travel to the lakes for MTBing a few times a year and love the Skiddaw loop. Start from Keswick town to enjoy the slog up spooney green lane passed lattrig.

Beautiful beautiful ride. Long, hot day. Get back to Keswick and ride straight to the square orange for beer and food before back to camp for chill before hitting the town again. Boootiful!

Me and a few mates are up in the lakes 6-8th Oct. Not been for years! Doing Nan Bield Fri afternoon (not done this before), 4 Passes on Sat, and Sticks pass/Helvellyn Sun. Leaving for our 6hr drive home Sun afternoon.
Its a squeeze to get all that in, but if we crack on it should be possible. Might take Mon off work..

Last time I rode 4 passes was 23 years ago on rigid rockhopper with one of my mates who is coming 🙂

Coming down Blacksail?

May one suggest……

Whiteless Pike and return via the Newlands footpath.
Fairfield Horseshoe.
St Sundays Crag.
Up Walna Scar onto Coniston Old Man then Wet Side Edge.
Ambleside to Keswick via Rosset Pike.
Cat Bells (on a quiet day or evening).

All are lovely!

So much choice. I’ve got to take the daughter to Bath uni that weekend otherwise I’d have jumped at the chance.

Some tips, which you might already have covered, but….

Walna loop.. after the drop through Broughton forest and the stream crossing, when you get to here, turn right instead and follow the fire road around up to Here. Then follow a cracking little downhill to take you back to the start point. Then follow the usual round over the Knot.
As mentioned above, Turn left at the car park at the bottom of Walna, head up to Crowbery Haws and take the footpath all the way back to the Sun Inn. Corking bit of trail.

If you want a central lakes one, I would recommend starting in Elterwater and take in Lingmoor Zig Zags down to the Three Shires, over to Tilberthwaite and take Hole Rake over to Coppermines (this is one of my favorite tracks in the area, screaming techy descent into Coniston. Head over to Hodge close, but before you reach the big quarry turn right and take the cheeky path over Holme Fell, with a steep techy drop to Yewdale Tarn.

Bike park lakes. Spoilt for choice.

Someone else has decided to come with me for Sat & Sun rides, on the basis that it’s natural Lakes rather than trail centre as he’s not done any. I initially thought of Walna Scar from Coniston then found a 40km loop that takes in some of Grizedale and Parkamoor and some of Walna Scar (loop of Coniston Water in Vertebrate book). Only thing is I’ve never done it myself it could be a ‘shit, we should have taken that turn back there’ type of ride – ie too ‘mappy’. I don’t want to not enjoy it because I’m looking at a bloody map all the time. Was going to do something around the Langdales too – that might be easier to nav as not in a forest a lot of the time. I have a dead basic Garmin Edge 200 which I upload road rides onto but unsure if good enough to be picking up bike trails/bridleways etc. Any tips folks?

@Lowey (Hi Dave)

“Then follow a cracking little downhill to take you back to the start point. Then follow the usual round over the Knot.”

Is the downhill in a south-easterley direction? Is it easy to find with respect to the wall line? I think I’ve seen the exit.

I have a dead basic Garmin Edge 200 which I upload road rides onto but unsure if good enough to be picking up bike trails/bridleways etc. Any tips folks?

I have an edge 200 that I have used many times to navigate offroad trails I’ve been down. It shouts at you if you go off course but sometimes it seems like you’ve gone off course when in fact the mapping isn’t accurate as going round a large bend or a hairpin or something. The other annoyance is that when you stop it flicks to the outline map and not the directional worm, so you have to move for it to flick back to the worm. I find a good dose of studying a map before I go so I know where the major turns are helps and generally I always take an OS map as well, either paper or a jpg on my phone.

40km loop that takes in some of Grizedale and Parkamoor and some of Walna Scar (loop of Coniston Water in Vertebrate book). Only thing is I’ve never done it myself it could be a ‘shit, we should have taken that turn back there’ type of ride – ie too ‘mappy’.

I know the one, and it’s not too hard navigation-wise, but there are plenty of choices to make so you’ll have to be looking ahead on the map. The bit over Woodland Fell is probably the most potentially confusing bit (non-obvious turn off), rather than the bit which goes through Grizedale, which is pretty straight-ahead.

It isn’t that tech a route, though, the descent to Nibthwaite is the rockiest bit, and as I mentioned earlier, it doesn’t include the good bits of WS, so make sure you head left at the WS car park and take the Church Beck descent.

Scuttler…

https://www.strava.com/segments/8739775

Decided we’re doing Walna Scar from Coniston to Torver, over to Seathwaite, up WS across onto Dow Crag, return to WS then blast down to Coniston – should be good – 20 miles and just over 1000m of climbing. Plotted route onto basic Garmin Edge 200 but the visible map on the Garmin Connect interface makes me think they will be a lot of hesitation when faced with options in front of us. Some of it looks obvious but in the woods around The Knott it might get a bit sketchy…hoping the actual is easier to read meaning I won’t be wholly reliant on the Garmin.
Taking old-skool photocopies of book directions and an OS map/compass so hopefully we’ll be ok!
Anyone have a file that I can upload of this route? (I am a tech numpty and the Garmin is as basic as they come). Can see why some people prefer trail centres – zero nav needed! Will need to do similar for a natural ride Sun, but Whinlatter Mon means following the arrows 😉

Some of it looks obvious but in the woods around The Knott it might get a bit sketchy.

It’s fairly obvious. Counting junctions and turning off the fire road at the right point is the key thing.

Cracking route, despite the two bastard road climbs! Don’t forget the Church Beck finish.

Your going onto Dow Crag ? How are you planning on getting back to WS ?

I can send you GPX of routes if you like. The stuff through Broughton Forest and the knot is signposted with blue arrows. You’ll be fine.

Although, as per standard high riding in the lakes, take a map and compass with you just in case.

Your going onto Dow Crag ? How are you planning on getting back to WS ?

Summit of WS across to summit of Dow Crag then return same way…don’t see why that won’t work…