North York Moors Mountain Biking

The North York Moors National Park has more than 2,000km of bridleways and quiet moorland roads, running across heather moorland, steep-sided dales and forest from the Hambleton Hills in the west to the coast at Whitby and Scarborough. The riding ranges from stony moorland tracks and heather singletrack in Rosedale, Bransdale and Farndale to old ironstone railway lines and forest roads. The National Park publishes seven Gravel Explorer routes, four of them starting near stations on the Esk Valley Railway, and three trail areas sit inside the park: Dalby Forest, Sutton Bank and Guisborough Forest. Most of the moorland riding is unwaymarked, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.

The Trails

• Bridleways and moorland tracks: Most of the riding is on public bridleways and old moorland roads, from wide stony farm tracks to narrow singletrack through the heather. Rosedale is known for its moorland singletrack, and Rudland Rigg, the long ridge between Bransdale and Farndale, has a stony track and a descent that Pedal North rates among the best moorland singletrack in the UK.
• Technical ground in the north: Great Hograh Moor above Baysdale has technical rocky sections, and George Gap Causeway on Glaisdale Moor follows an old paved trod across the moor.
• The western escarpment: The old Hambleton Drove Road runs along the edge of the Hambleton Hills between Sutton Bank and Osmotherley, and the escarpment around Boltby Scar and Hawnby Moor adds rocky, technical riding close to Sutton Bank.
• Old railway lines: The Rosedale Railway, built in the 1860s to carry ironstone out of Rosedale, has been upgraded from footpath to bridleway and runs high around the head of the dale towards Blakey Ridge on a smooth, near-level trackbed. On the coast, the Cinder Track follows the old Scarborough to Whitby line.
• Waymarked network: The Moor to Sea Cycle Network is around 150 miles of waymarked quiet roads, woodland tracks and bridleways in eleven sections, linking Scarborough, Whitby, Dalby Forest, Pickering and Great Ayton. Ridden in full it makes a five or six day trip.
• Conditions: Much of the high moor is peaty and goes soft after rain, so the moorland routes are at their best after a dry spell. The tops are exposed, so a clear day makes a big difference.

Trail Centres and Venues in the Park

• Dalby Forest: the park's largest trail centre, near Pickering, with graded waymarked singletrack, a skills area and an extensive forest road network.
• Sutton Bank Bikes: at the Sutton Bank National Park Centre on the Hambleton Hills escarpment, with green, blue and red waymarked trails, a skills area and pump track, and bike hire.
• Guisborough Forest: Forestry England woodland on the northern edge of the park, with a web of volunteer-maintained singletrack.
• Pickering Pump Track: in Pickering, on the southern edge of the park.

Gravel Riding

The National Park Authority publishes Gravel Explorer routes: circular day rides on forest and moorland tracks, old railway lines and quiet lanes, designed for gravel, mountain and hybrid bikes and their e-bike equivalents. Route guides, maps and GPX files are on the National Park's website and its Komoot page.

Four routes start on the northern edge of the park, each close to a station on the Esk Valley Railway between Middlesbrough and Whitby:

• Gribdale Gravel Explorer, 11km (7 miles), easy to moderate, 300m of climbing: A short loop around Roseberry Topping from Bike Base at Gribdale, mixing quiet lanes with forestry gravel and moorland track. It passes under the Hanging Stone in Guisborough Forest and follows Percy Cross Rigg to Kildale before returning to Gribdale Gate, and is designed as a taster for riders new to off-road cycling. Nearest stations: Great Ayton or Kildale.
• Ingleby Horseshoe Gravel Explorer, 35km (22 miles), moderate, 620m: Also from Bike Base, heading south through Easby and Ingleby Greenhow to the Ingleby Horseshoe, where long stretches of smooth "champagne gravel" lead out to Bank Foot. The return runs back through Kildale, joins National Cycle Network Route 168 on Percy Cross Rigg and contours through Guisborough Forest between Roseberry Topping and Little Roseberry before the final descent to Aireyholme Farm. Nearest station: Great Ayton.
• Esk, Coast and Iron Gravel Explorer, 60km (37 miles), hard, 1,000m: From Guisborough through the old ironstone mining landscape and down the Esk Valley through Castleton, Commondale and Danby, then out to the coast at Skinningrove, home of the Land of Iron museum. The return follows a dismantled railway and National Cycle Network Route 168 back into Guisborough. Parking is available at Specialized Guisborough. Nearest station: Nunthorpe.
• Blakey and Fryup Gravel Explorer, 50km (31 miles), hard, 1,000m: From Danby Lodge National Park Centre west along quiet lanes and National Cycle Network Route 165 towards Kildale, then a hard climb onto the moorland escarpment and along the old railway line across Blakey Ridge to the Lion Inn. It comes back on sections of the Coast to Coast National Trail, down into Fryup Dale and along the Esk Valley. The tops are exposed, so it is worth saving for a clear day. Nearest station: Danby.

Three more Gravel Explorer routes start from the Sutton Bank National Park Centre on the western escarpment, from the 25km Moorland Meander to the 50km Hambleton Horizon along the old drove road to Osmotherley. See the Sutton Bank Bikes listing for details.

Beyond the Explorer routes, the Rosedale Railway, the Cinder Track and the forest roads at Dalby Forest all make good gravel riding, and the Moor to Sea Cycle Network links much of it together.

Rights of Way

• Open access land on the moors is for walkers only. You can ride bridleways, byways, forest tracks and roads, but not across open moorland away from them. See the National Park's open access guidance.
• The Cleveland Way National Trail follows the northern and western escarpment, but most of it is footpath. Only the lengths marked with blue bridleway arrows, or on minor roads, can be ridden.
• Bridleways are shared with walkers and horse riders, and much of the high moor is working grouse moor, so slow down and give way.

Local Organisations

• SingletrAction is a volunteer trail-building group that runs dig days at Guisborough Forest and Dalby Forest, among other Yorkshire venues.
• MTB Guisborough is the local trail-building and advocacy club for Guisborough Forest.

Getting Here

• Bike Base, The Old Stables, Gribdale, Great Ayton, TS9 6HL, close to Captain Cook's Monument, is the start of the Gribdale and Ingleby Horseshoe routes, with a cafe and mountain bike and e-bike hire booked online. On-site parking is limited, with more at Gribdale Gate and Newton under Roseberry.
• Danby Lodge National Park Centre, Lodge Lane, Danby, YO21 2NB, is the start of the Blakey and Fryup route and sits on the Moor to Sea Cycle Network.
• For the western escarpment, start from the Sutton Bank National Park Centre on the A170. For the forest trails, head to Dalby Forest near Pickering.
• By train, the Esk Valley Railway runs between Middlesbrough and Whitby, with stations including Nunthorpe, Great Ayton, Kildale, Commondale, Castleton Moor and Danby, so the northern routes can be ridden without a car or linked between stations.
• Most riding in the park is unwaymarked, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.

Recommended Trail Resources

North York Moors National Park, Cycling

• The National Park Authority's own cycling pages, covering the Gravel Explorer routes, the Moor to Sea Cycle Network, cycling centres, events and guided rides.

Gravel Explorer Routes from the North

• Maps and GPX downloads for the Gribdale, Ingleby Horseshoe, Esk, Coast and Iron, and Blakey and Fryup routes, with a video guide to each.

Pedal North, North York Moors Mountain Bike Routes

• Twelve mountain bike routes from 9 to 32 miles, graded Medium and Hard, including Rosedale, Rudland Rigg, Great Hograh Moor, the Hambleton Hills and the Drovers Way.

Bike Base

• Cafe and cycle hire at Gribdale near Great Ayton, with mountain bikes and e-bikes booked online and route advice on the northern edge of the park.

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