Description
The Lake District is one of England's most celebrated wild riding destinations. The national park sits across Cumbria and offers hundreds of kilometres of bridleways, rocky fells, and natural singletrack across three distinct areas: the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Lakes. The two main trail centres are Grizedale in the south and Whinlatter in the north, but the real draw is the open fell riding beyond them.
Like this?
Overview
- Rocky, rooty, natural singletrack across the fells and valley tracks.
- A large network of public bridleways covering hundreds of kilometres.
- Expect technical terrain, exposure, and significant elevation on most routes.
- The Southern Lakes offers lower fells and access to Grizedale trails โ a good entry point.
- The Eastern Lakes is big riding country: classics like Helvellyn, Garburn Pass, High Street, and the Nan Bield Pass, with some hike-a-bike required.
- The Northern Lakes includes routes around Skiddaw and the Borrowdale valley.
Resources and Route Guides
- LakesMTB โ the specialist community resource for Lake District MTB, produced by local riders. The routes section covers classics including the Borrowdale Bash, Sticks Pass, Walna Scar, Loughrigg Fell, Parkamoor, and several Staveley loops, each with distance, elevation, and a GPX download. Guiding and coaching is also available via the site.
- Pedal North โ well-structured route guides covering all areas of the Lakes, graded by difficulty with OS maps, turn-by-turn directions, and GPX downloads.
Clubs and Groups
- The Tribe MBC โ North West-based club with around 40 to 50 members. The Lake District is their most popular riding location, with regular Sunday rides across the fells.
Getting There
- The Lake District is accessible from the M6 โ junction 36 for the southern and eastern Lakes, junction 40 for the northern Lakes.
- Staveley is a popular base for the Eastern Lakes classics, sitting just off the A591 between Kendal and Windermere.
- Keswick is the main hub for the Northern Lakes, with easy access to Skiddaw and Borrowdale routes.
- Ambleside and Coniston are good bases for Southern Lakes riding, including Grizedale and the Walna Scar area.
- Train services run to Windermere from Oxenholme (on the West Coast Main Line), with onward connections by bus or taxi to Staveley and Ambleside.
Share
- If you have ridden the MTB trails in the Lake District, then please share your pictures, reviews, tracks and videos on the listing.