can anyone recommend a route round that area and how good is the high nibthwaite descent?
Here you go:
http://www.theedgecycleworks.com/mtbroutes/parkamoor-claife-heights/
Nibthwaite is absolutly oodles of fun. One of my favourites. 🙂
The descent is superb, seems to go on for miles.
My favourite way of including it is first two sections of the north face trail upto the top. Then over the moor and Parkamoor to Nibthwaite. Steep lane and track back into the forest to Force Mills. Forest track upto, the singletrack across and down Breasty Haws. Go north up the lane a few hundred yards then climb steeply back into the forest and singletrack/fire road to Moor top. From Moor Top stay high on the forest road and contour round to the Riverbed bridleway. Either fire road back to the visitor centre or turn left, ight climb on fire road and last section of north face trail. About 30km or so.
So many great descents, so little time.
I agree that Nibthwaite and Breasty Haws through Great Wood are the two unmissables. Another way onwards is to climb back up as per tomj after Breasty Haws, then turn left at the Fox and pick up a rough descent direct to the VC, then head back up to Parkamoor and pick up a long straight descent which comes out just S of Satterthwaite (finishes as Moor Lane on the O/S).
nibthwiate is great, the one to moor lane is better tho IMO, more downhill-y, both in one ride would be good.
TomJ can you clarify your route, presume you mean bletherbarrow lane to high ickenthwaite, rusland, tjhwaite moss, stricely, force mills but which route to get above breasty fnar fnar haw?
The Satterthwaite descent is an absolute belter (sometimes known as 'Grandad, Dad and the Dentist'), so much so, that I prefer that as a finish.
Park at Moor Lane, just south of Satterthwaite (marked as P on OS maps). Up over Breasty Haw, over the Hole in the Wall (bridleway to east of Breasty Haw - unmissable), then loop back to VC via the rocky by-way (good climb) and descent, then out of VC via bridleway NOT NF trail direct to Parkamoor descent. Back up Little Alpe d'Huez (steep road climb). Head towards Ickenthwaite, then before Force Forge take the footpath north into the forest, which allows you to finish with either the whole Satterthwaite descent or the bottom 2/3rds.
Sorry, waffly description!
that the steep one from the bottom of the black run?then out of VC via bridleway NOT NF trail direct to Parkamoor descent.
Anyone know about this climb out of satterthwaite: Up sawry bridge BW, left toward moor lane then right onto a fire road, keep right up Rake close to rowan tree dub? [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/donkidave/9576872404/ ]Pic here[/url] Was wondering about that for after BH, not ridden down BH so might give it a go, as GavinB says the down the other side is a corking descent.
GavinB's route sounds superb, I'll think I'll plot it ready for my next visit...
Something like this?
http://www.justgoride.co.uk/Content/Routes/Viewer.aspx?id=3432
The footpath climb from Force Forge looks tough!
Donk - that's the one. Rather than going left through a gate at the bottom of the NF trail, bear slightly right and the climb starts there. It's a beast of a climb especially in the wet (and a cracking descent too), as the rocks see so little daylight, they seem to be unfeasibly greasy. It pops you out at the bottom of the black, and you then carry on up the bridleway to the top of the black (where the NF trail joins), so if you really wanted you could do a quick loop down the black and just add 10 mins on.
Simon - that looks pretty much the route I described.
Yeah fancy linking it with grizedale make a good combo
Hi tomj
you don`t have a map of the route you have just described do ya
cheers
Help anyone ?
Loftmonkey - this one: http://www.justgoride.co.uk/content/Routes/Viewer.aspx?id=249
is OK for the first part of the route - including nibthwaite descent and breasty haws/great wood.
When you get up to the Fox sculpture, the above link takes you back to the visitor centre as I described, and you can decide whether to head back up parkamoor for the Satterthwaite descent to finish, or call it a day.
If you want to do Tomj's suggestion, you can improvise your way up to Moor Top and round for the Riverbed descent using this:
although the riverbed descent isn't completely easy to find - I think on that map it's marked as a bridleway ~(dotted white line) heading SE directly towards the visitor centre but not quite reaching it. Finishing just underneath the number 50 on the map.
Sorry about the delay, been away. Afraid I don't have a route, I don't use GPS or mapping software. I'm a paper OS map kind of chap.
Try to get hold of the Vertebre Graphics Lake District Mountain Biking book. My route is basically the Grizedale and Parkamoor route, expect I use the first two sections of TNF to get to the top and intead of heading straight back down to the car park I continue to Moor Top. This is in their ' short Grizedale blast' route. Clear as mud?
From the VC you can get a useful map that marks the fire roads, bridleways and TNF trail.
"Grizedale Blast" http://www.justgoride.co.uk/Content/Routes/Viewer.aspx?id=394
"Grizedale & Parkamoor" http://www.justgoride.co.uk/Content/Routes/Viewer.aspx?id=249
The VG book's definitely worth buying, though 🙂
Plenty of routes on boggies website and the options for rides that include Parkamoor are .any and varied. Anyone who says Grizedale is boring is bored of mountain biking 
Breadth Has and the Fox are good too and there are so many other great places to ride to extend your loop to suit
thanks for the reply`s guys plenty for me to have a look at.