The Yorkshire Dales offers great mountain biking, beautiful upland scenery, rare wildlife, superb cafes and pubs and lovely villages.
Many trails have a history as well as being great fun to ride, being a mixture of Roman roads, monastic highways, mining tracks and drovers roads. There is everything from hard stone trails and moorland singletrack, through to fast limestone grassland. The trails tend to be less technical than areas like the Lake District, but they remain challenging not least because there are some long climbs to go at.
The Dales has a network of over 900km of bridleways, byways and green lanes – that’s more than 3 times the whole 7 Stanes network in a single area. There are short and relatively easy circuits through to multi-day tours connecting many of our famous valleys.
We have put together a collection of routes which can be downloaded in a variety of formats. Or you can pick up a map or guidebook in our on-line shop or one of our National Park Visitor Centres. Remember that you will be sharing the trails with walkers and horse riders. If you are approaching other people from behind, particularly horse riders, please ‘call out hello and pass wide and slow’.
Hire and help
There are loads of great cycle businesses where you can hire a quality bike, get local advice, go on a guided ride, or provide courses to improve your skills. And there are plenty of places to stay whether you are looking for a campsite, a B&B or something more upmarket.
Stop the spread
Invasive Non-Native Species and diseases threaten the landscapes and wildlife of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and can impede access to and enjoyment of our wild places. Some species such as Giant hogweed pose a direct threat to your safety and non-native tree diseases threaten the character and integrity of our native woodlands.
These species can easily be spread from site to site via tiny fragments or seeds, or as spores in mud and leaf litter caught up in treads and on frames of bikes or clothing.
Please help to stop the spread of these species to and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park by making sure your bike, footwear and clothing is clean before you come, and using the Check Clean Dry protocol at the end of your ride – see here for details.
