Bikepacking in the Lake District: Lakeland 200 and seven long-weekend bikepacking adventures

By Edward Hunton

Bikepacking is the off-road equivalent of cycle touring, often offering opportunities for wild camping in addition to the usual accommodation options for sleeping under a roof: it promises an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in the environment as you explore the best of what the area has to offer on two wheels. This guide presents eight challenging 2–5 day rides in the Lake District, suitable for mountain bikes (some routes are also rideable on a gravel bike). All routes are accessible by public transport and many can be completed over a long weekend. They are graded from Moderate to Very Hard, although all involve considerable ascent and descent and sections where you may need to push or carry your bike – as such, they are suited to fit experienced riders.

Clear route description, mapping and elevation profiles are supplemented with a wealth of planning information, including accommodation listings, notes on facilities, and summary details (including grades) for each individual section of the route. Also included are tips on food, kit and navigation and alternative itineraries.

The routes combine roads, tracks, lanes and bridleways to take you among, around and over the Lakeland Fells, with highlights including the iconic road climbs of Hardknott, Wrynose, Whinlatter and Honister; the off-road passes of Sticks Pass, Stake Pass and Black Sail; and the highest bridleway in England over Helvellyn, England's third highest mountain. The guide also features the classic Lakeland 200, which can be ridden over 5 days or completed as an Individual Time Trial.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cicerone Press
• Release date: Aug 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9781787650145

Edward Hunton

Ed Hunton grew up in the wilds of North Devon on the edge of Dartmoor and cycling was his main mode of transport. He would set off with Super-c panniers loaded and an OS Landranger stuffed in his rain mac. The unparalleled feeling of freedom his first bike afforded him on his adventures through the web of B-roads and green chutes of the South-West gave him a lifelong passion for cycling. Inspired by a local bike shop owner, John Spur, tours in Italy, Spain, Benelux, France and Cuba followed, with a mixture of campsites, wild camping and pensions being his preferred accommodation. A keen member of Audax, Ed has also completed the Trans Alba (an 800-mile circuit of Scotland), taken part in Bare Bones events and ridden countless sportives. For him, few experiences can match setting up camp in a remote part of the landscape, getting a brew on and contemplating the heavens from the comfort of his hammock.

Book preview

About the Author

Ed Hunton grew up in the wilds of North Devon on the edge of Dartmoor and cycling was his main mode of transport. He would set off with Super C panniers loaded and an OS Landranger stuffed in his rain mac. The unparalleled feeling of freedom his first bike afforded him on his adventures through the web of B-roads and green chutes of the South-West gave him a lifelong passion for cycling. Inspired by a local bike shop owner, John Spurr, tours in Italy, Spain, Benelux, France and Cuba followed with campsites, pensions or a wild camp being Ed’s preference over hotels. A keen member of Audax, Ed has also completed the Trans Alba (an 800-mile circuit of Scotland), taken part in Bare Bones events and ridden countless sportives. For him, few experiences can match setting up camp in a remote part of the landscape, getting a brew on and contemplating the heavens from the comfort of his hammock.

BIKEPACKING IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

LAKELAND 200 AND SEVEN LONG-WEEKEND BIKEPACKING ADVENTURES

by Edward Hunton

JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,

OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL

www.cicerone.co.uk

© Ed Hunton 2023

First edition 2023

ISBN 9781783629664

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.

Route mapping by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com

© Crown copyright 2023 OS PU100012932. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI

For Tilda, with love

Acknowledgments

To John Spurr who sent me packing to Greece on an old Kona; the 6am crew who help keep me in shape; Tom and Lucie who rose to the challenge and carried me with them; Kieron Chissik, a truly inspiring backwoodsman and artist; and to my partner, Nicky Stoupe, whose endless encouragement has been invaluable from the first draft to accompanying me on half these rides…on a gravel bike!

Updates to this guide

While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/1117/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [e-mail] or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL.

Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and GPX files where available, register your book in your Cicerone library at www.cicerone.co.uk.

Note on mapping

The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency. However, we have reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge as part of the preparation of this guide.

Front cover: Descending the bridleway that traverses the eastern face of Lonscale Fell (photo: Adam Walton)

CONTENTS

Map key

Overview maps

Route summary table

Introduction

What is bikepacking?

Individual time trials

Choice of bike

When to go

Mountain weather

Getting there and around

Accommodation

Fuel strategies

Kit

Cash and money

Navigation

Rights of way

The National Cycle Network

Safety and emergencies

Using this guide

The rides

Route 1 The Lakeland 200

Route 2 Furness Forests

Route 3 The Old Man of Coniston and the Irish Sea

Route 4 Way Out in the Western Fells

Route 5 Helvellyn and Back

Route 6 Dalston/Skiddaw Mega Pretzel

Route 7 Penrith/High Street Circuit

Route 8 Nine Lakes

Appendix A Lake District campsites and hostels

Appendix B Lake District bike shops

Appendix C Kit list

An easy start back to Skiddaw from Peter House Farm (Route 6)

ROUTE SUMMARY TABLE

The heart of the Skiddaw Massif (Route 6)

Looking north to Binsey from Dash Falls (Route 6)

INTRODUCTION

Looking down to Loweswater (Route 4)

The Lake District is an exceptional location for bikepacking. No other location has the density of first-class off-road riding within such a varied and wild landscape. Its 16 lakes are flanked by dozens of fells (an Old Norse term which means mountains and hills), and over 3000km of rights of way criss-cross its 912 square miles. It’s a varied landscape with almost 10,000 hectares of managed plantation and one-third more of deciduous woodland. Beyond the Victoriana of Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth that is the signature style of some of the busy towns, the area has been a working agricultural landscape for millennia. The many pack-roads pre-date the 19th-century tourist boom. Its grazing land and forestry are actively managed.

To help the inquisitive adventurer, Alfred Wainwright partitioned Lakeland into seven areas: the Western Fells, the North Western Fells, the Northern Fells, the Southern Fells, the Central Fells, the Far Eastern Fells, and the Eastern Fells. This ambitious guide will introduce the rider to all of these, with two of the routes featuring all seven. When you have completed these routes you will have had an almost unique exposure to the Lake District, having explored every type of landscape and habitat it has to offer. From nights in the woods with just owls for company to welcoming inns with first-class food and beer and great company, the Lake District has something for every explorer.

The view back to the Irish Sea (Route 4)

What is bikepacking?

Bikepacking, like backpacking, involves heading off on a journey that’s going to take you more than one day to complete. For this reason, you’re going to need to take a few things with you to improve your comfort when you are not riding your bike (see Appendix C). At the least, you will need a tent (or bivvy bag) and sleeping bag if you are camping, and some food and possibly a way of preparing it.

Bikepacking differs from classic cycle touring principally in respect to the terrain you will be covering and the bike you will be riding. Instead of a paved road, you are heading out onto bridle paths, byways, green lanes, forestry tracks and long-abandoned rights of way. That’s not to say there won’t be times when taking the road is the best choice or when a B&B or YHA is a sensible option, but for the most part bikepacking can be defined as an off-road camping trip taken on a bike.

It also differs from classical mountain biking. The reader shouldn’t expect these pages to