Yorkshire Dales Mountain Biking

Mountain biking in the Yorkshire Dales National Park covers an enormous area of sweeping limestone hills, moorland singletrack, historic green lanes and stone-track bridleways, spread across Swaledale, Wensleydale, Wharfedale, Ribblesdale, Dentdale and more. The terrain is entirely natural, with over 900km of bridleways, byways and green lanes criss-crossing the national park, more than three times the whole 7 Stanes network in a single area. Trails range from relaxed valley loops to long, committing days out on Roman roads, drovers' tracks and old lead-mining ways, and the same stone tracks also carry some of the best gravel and bikepacking riding in the north of England, including the historic Mastiles Lane and Cam High Road and the waymarked Pennine Bridleway and Great North Trail. Expect long climbs, fast descents and outstanding scenery, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.

The nearest trail centre is Gisburn Forest Bike Trails, just over the border in Lancashire.

The Yorkshire Dales Trails

• The riding covers multiple distinct dales, each with its own character and network of bridleways, including Swaledale, Wensleydale, Wharfedale, Ribblesdale and Dentdale.
• Riding is predominantly on stone tracks, grassy moorland trails and green lanes. It is less technical than the Lake District but no less demanding, with serious climbing on most routes.
• The limestone bedrock keeps many tracks fast-draining, so the Dales ride well year-round in fair conditions.
• The Cycle the Dales route guide, run by the National Park Authority, grades its circular MTB routes from Green to Black and covers routes from the easy 7km Malham Tarn loop to the 60km, 1,178m black-graded Horton, Over the Stake epic.
• The Pennine Bridleway, a National Trail built for horse riders and cyclists as well as walkers, and the Great North Trail both run through the national park, offering waymarked long-distance off-road riding suited to multi-day bikepacking as well as day rides. See the National Park Authority's own Pennine Bridleway guide.
• The Three Peaks area around Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough offers some of the most iconic and demanding routes in the Dales.

Gravel Riding

Much of the Dales' network of stone tracks, drovers' roads and green lanes doubles as excellent gravel riding. Mastiles Lane, an old Roman road and drovers' route running around six miles from Kilnsey in Wharfedale over to Malham Tarn, and Cam High Road, a Roman and medieval packhorse route climbing over Cam Fell between Gearstones near Ribblehead and Hawes in Wensleydale, are the two classic rides: long, largely rideable stone tracks that suit a gravel bike as well as an MTB. Both link into longer loops from Settle, Malham, Hawes or Kettlewell. See Pedal North's gravel route guide for more options.

Getting Here

• Dales Bike Centre, Parks Barn, Fremington, Near Reeth, North Yorkshire, DL11 6AW is the main hub for Swaledale routes, with parking, a cafe, bike shop and hire.
• Other routes start from car parks in Settle, Malham, Hawes, Grassington and Horton-in-Ribblesdale, depending on which route you choose, so download a route or use GPS navigation before you set off.
• The Dales is served by the DalesBus network and mainline stations at Settle, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Ribblehead and Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle line, useful for point-to-point or multi-day rides.

Recommended Trail Resources

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Mountain Biking

• The official resource from the national park authority. Covers access advice, biosecurity guidance (Check Clean Dry) and links through to downloadable routes across all the major dales.

Cycle the Dales, MTB Routes

• Run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, with ten graded circular MTB routes and elevation figures, from the easy Malham Tarn loop to the black-graded Horton, Over the Stake.

Dales Bike Centre

• Based at Fremington near Reeth in Swaledale. Bike shop, cafe, a hire fleet of over 50 bikes, guided rides and accommodation including glamping pods, an apartment and a bunk room. Four downloadable GPX routes from 30km to 41km: Pinseat and Apedale Circuit, School Master and the Edge, Edge, Hurst, Gill and Swale Trail, and the Swaledale MTB Challenge. Open seven days a week, 9am to 5pm.

Pedal North

• Around 40 routes graded Easy, Moderate and Hard with descriptions, maps and GPX downloads. Covers the Dales, the Lakes, the North York Moors, Lancashire and Northumberland.

MTB Dales

• Route guide for the Yorkshire Dales, Cumbria and Lancashire. Covers Wharfedale, Ribblesdale, the southern Dales, the Three Peaks, Kettlewell, Mastiles Lane, Nidderdale and Grassington.

Komoot, MTB Trails in Yorkshire Dales National Park

• A curated collection of user-submitted MTB routes across the national park, each with a downloadable GPX track.

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