We did the excellent Nick Dutton-Taylor guidebook route from Addingham to Skipton, Rylstone then over the moor to Bolton Abbey last year and really enjoyed it.

Only dodgy bit was the suggested route from Skipton to Rylstone, which is all on the horrible B6265, from the church in the middle of Skipton to the turn off right over the moor just before Rylstone. It was bloody terrifying – one of the scariest bits of road I’ve ridden; narrow, fast and busy.

Would love to do the ride again this year but don’t fancy dodging the traffic on a busy weekend again.

Can anyone recommend a decent off road route from Skipton to Rylstone?

If you are coming from addingham, you can go up via embsay reservoir, onto embsay moor to meet the bridleway heading across to bolton abbey.
This misses a bit out from rylstone up onto the moor though.

Alternatily you could go up over flasby fell and down the back road from flasby to hetton/rylstone.
This adds an extra hill in of course.

see a mostly off road route *here* or a slightly different way over Sharp Haw

Cheers Glen.

The bit over from Addingham to Skipton is excellent, as is the climb and descent over the moor from Rylstone to Bolton Abbey – just the middle bit we’d like to miss.

Think we’ll give the Flasby fell option a good looking at.
Thanks for the advice.

Thanks Simon, much appreciated.

Will get the maps out tonight and check out the options.

My favourite route! My version is identical to SFB’s but I take the bridge over the a59 just to cut it out altogether. Great route.

Yes, we did this last year:
down the long straight road off the moor towards Skipton centre, after the 1st mini rbout take a right (this turns into a narrow one way lane and misses out the town centre) come out at the castle wall, take a right, pass Skipton BS head office, turn left to Embsay, turn left along brackenley lane, turn right onto B6265, next left onto lane, right onto Bridleway over Flasby Fell to Flasby, right to Hetton, follow BWs to bottom of Rystone Moor. This route misses out most of the busy road bits, but adds a reasonable amount of time.

As far as I recall Flasby Fell was quite a good ride, but I suspect the weather had been good at that time, I walked it over the winter and remember thinking it was quite muddy.

Thanks Simon also wandered about this myself – and I still get to go past Wrights whisky shop too!!

Flasby Fell is vile and boggy for most of the year – which is rather annoying as its on my doorstep, it is preferable to the B6265 though. I have practiacally been blown into the hedgerow on the B6265 when out on my road bike by the quarry trucks.

Simons route through Skipton is fine, personally because of coming from my house, I use the A6069 (pink road on the map) from the bypass and then turn onto the pink dotted track in the direction of Stirton going over the railway and under the canal.

Flasby Fell is vile and boggy for most of the year

but the downhill is hilarious fun as you skid and slide :o)

Flasby fell is a laugh in the wet but it can leave you without much in the tank for the slog up to Rylstone! Don’t take the path up to the top of Flasby fell – look for a spur off to the right approx 200m from the last gate

As above. Me and bro missed the turn for the bridleway off of Skyrakes and ended up going over the top of Sharp Haw. Ace downhill on the other side which we realised was a footpath once at the bottom. Oops. Sheepishly pushed back up and found the (very boggy) bridleway. Shortly after that I landed on my face. Luckily, with it being so muddy, it was a very soft landing. Infinitely better than slogging up the B6265 though and being taken out by the trucks.