why the dales

The Yorkshire Dales ranks as one of the top places to go mountain biking, aided by the four-sheet series of Harvey maps which colour-grades the rights of way for difficulty. This is beautiful high open moorland with absolutely masses of bike-legal riding featuring dozens of long climbs and descents, and trails that traverse, contour and fall. The upland is wild but not alpine, and falls away into frequent valleys, so you get a dramatic experience without the demands of seriously remote mountain riding. The Dales towns and villages are picturesque and well set up for visitors, with cyclists cafes and pubs, and accommodation for all tastes and budgets. 

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. Thus many are on gradients that keep you in the saddle rather than off and pushing!

The Dales has a network of over 800 km of bridleways, byways and green lanes – that’s eight Coed-y-Brenins in one area which you can link up in countless ways.  There is the chance to do short and relatively easy circuits through to huge routes connecting many of the valleys that the Dales is famous for.

Just pick one of the route bases to find some trails to get you started.