Northface trail – whats it like

I’m staying very local to it next week but is it worth riding?

How does it compare with the Welsh and Scottish centres.

T’is okay. Not as good as Kirroughtree, but what is?

Its alright, fair bit of fireroad but some nice sections. I did it in the sunshine with a hangover from Kendal Calling and it was nice and chilled. I think there are plenty of variations you can do round there which one of the locals might care to share.

Climb is the best bit…. Take a map and just follow all the bridleway that you can find from the top of the climb. You’ll be far more impressed. A lap only takes 1 1/2 hours (ish) so you could do a lap and then explore the bridleways…

its pretty average

Wouldn’t make a specific trip to ride it, but it’s good if you’re there anyway

Its ok, but the natural stuff in Grizedale is miles better. The climb to Mustard Hill is well planned and keeps interest up, and the final descent from Moor Top is good in a swoopy kind of way.

You would probably hate it though. Much better you stay at home masturbating into a sock whilst watching Emmerdale.

it’s not bad Dan, the boardwalk sections can be like ice but there are some pleasant singletrack sections, plenty of other good stuff in the forest if you look around

4/10 ime / imo

If you like fast pedally singletrack you will like it.
If you are after big whoops and jumps you won’t.

My favorite time was when I had a slow puncture so I kept pumping it uo and nailing all the singletrack as fast as possible, racing the leak. The faster you go the more it flows.

Its not too bad, not as flowing as some trail centres and is rockier than a few of the ones Ive been too. However, it doesnt really have a trail centre ‘feel’ to it and its never too busy, which is nice.

Link it up with some other stuff in the area and you’ll get a good ride.

Theres good descents down Parkamoor, Ickenthwaite, Graythwaite, The Fox, Chippy Tea challenge, Satterthwaite etc and theres also a short downhill track tucked away in the woods if you can find it.

Best bet is take a map and plan something out, everything is quite close together so linking up a good ride isnt hard really.

what singletrack? its mostly fireroads

When I did it the boardwalks were like ice, self lubricating (muddy slime squeezing out of the wood) rather than self cleaning. Needs to be done after a good dry spell.

Found it a bit scrappy and bitty as the above was lethal.

Still went round it twice though as it’s quite short.

Paul

PS Broke a rib on the first circuit 🙂

Boardwalks have almost all been removed now. They weren’t as bad as people reckoned anyway, I rode them in the snow and ice on a CX with semi slicks! However, a lot of beginners got freaked out by them so they’re gone. 🙁

North Face Trail is ace. It keeps the riders off the good natural stuff! 😉

I’m recording a weeks worth of Emmerdale in preparation, prefer a cup as a receptacle 😉

As Algore said, put a little pedalling in through the sections and it becomes alive

Some pictures (mostly the more technical bits):



If you are smooth the boardwalk is/was perfectly rideable when soaking wet (unlike this one)

Under a layer of frost/ice it is/was rideable, more so than when wet



this isn’t actually part of the loop, just off to the side

Where are you staying? I did a nice 30 from Coniston to Grizedale, Satterthwaite, Hawkshead, Ambleside and back to Coniston. Some road, not much, and the singletrack from Satterthwaite is worth the ride alone if in my opinion…

I really like it, sure it is easy and not that long, bit I just ride it twice and pretty fast, the first climb and last descent are great.

iamtheresurrection – my intention was to ride mostly bridleways and other err paths. Staying in Hawkshead for a week so have several loops round claife, grizedale, loughrigg and dunnerdale / walna planned. might give Northface a spin one evening though

definitely worth a quick blast. Walna Scar is supposed to be back up to scratch after recent ‘improvements’.

Some messing around to be had in the quarry an the back of Walna Scar as well.

Never ridden it all, we usually do the (really good) climb, a nice bit of singletrack and then nip off onto the bridleways down to Satterthwaite and over Breasty Haw.

Put together, it makes one of my favourite UK rides – it even blows Kirroughtree out of the water.

Might be worth searching for “Grandad, Dad and the Dentist”, which I’m told one of the best bridleway sections is locally known as.

Sounds like you know more than me then! 😉

The bridleway from Satterthwaite back towards Hawkshead is great, if you don’t know it youve should have a look. Did it yesterday, sadly going back home tomorrow.

Virtually any bridleway in the forest pisses on the NFT from a great height. It’s an ok way of getting up towards Parkamoor or Lawson Park areas, but there is no one really decent descent on the whole route. Imo it doesn’t get any better however fast you do it – has no flow to it whatsoever.

If you want singletrack Breasty Haw has a nice bit.

Might be worth searching for “Grandad, Dad and the Dentist”, which I’m told one of the best bridleway sections is locally known as.

I’m a ‘local’, didnt realise that section of track had a funny name like that.

Where’s this dh track then? 😛

Name possibly not in general use then, but I’m guessing this is it…

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Grandad-Dad-and-The-Dentist

And here I am hauling the mail down the middle (or “Dad”) section…

Included it in a ride from Ambleside the last time I was there. Loughrigg-Elterwater-Langdale tarn-round Grizedale- Iron Keld,Elterwater and onto loughrigg terrace. Worth doing once just for the sake of it but I found it a bit dull compared to all the nice natural/bridleway stuff in the area. Another idea is to go half way round the North face and then do the Old Man of coniston before doing the other half.

chakaping I’m sure I’ve heard it called the Three Witches before too – love that bit, heard they have ‘sanitized’ the bottom section now though.

Grumm, if you want to know where the DH track is then email me. I just dont think it would be fair to advertise it on a public forum since I dont know who built it and they may want to keep it on the ‘down low’

I havent ridden it much and dont know who built it (although I have a vague idea but thats by the by)

Me being all secretive is making it sound like its something amazing, its not but its quite good fun.

heard they have ‘sanitized’ the bottom section now though.

The bottom bit didn’t feel very sanitized when that pic was taken a few weeks ago. Put it this way, I could tell why they called it “the dentist”!

😉

The shallow-sloped rocky bridleways round there are just incredible fun. Here’s another pic from that trail…

And my pal Pete getting some air across the road…

Ah ok, think it was SfB that mentioned it and he’s a funny one. 😛 Might have all got washed away again by now I suppose.

I agree about the rocky bridleways in Grizedale, awesome riding.

That last pic on the BW from Breasty Haw – steep switchbacks near the bottom then out onto a road?

Oh and davidtaylforth yhm 😀

I found it was really hard to nail it all the way round the singletrack but if you did it was very rewarding

That last pic on the BW from Breasty Haw – steep switchbacks near the bottom then out onto a road?

Yep, that’s the one. So dry and fast when we were up there!

Recognise this from the way up (last pic of night)?

I almost broke my collar bone on ‘the dad’, I launched of a little lip and the front wheel stopped dead on landing in a small wheel sized/shaped hole. Bloody hurt, but a great bit of riding….

When are you planning on being there, me and Nodrog2 are looking for something to do next Wednesday??

Chakaping, not sure where that is, looks familiar. Bigger pic might help!

Some of the advice above proved good, thanks, I used the trail to get from hawkshead to parkamoor and then rode the dentist trail and over breasty haws to cliafe then round claife heights.

Was a good ride. Rode the whole trail on the final evening and its a bit poo all together, only the hawkshead-grizedale-parkamoor bit has any singletrack worth riding in.