Mountain Biking
Eden is a fantastic place for mountain biking.
There are byway and bridleway tracks across the fells around Askham, Ullswater, Orton, Kirkby Stephen and Alston and the North Pennines. OS Explorer maps OL5 The English Lakes: NE area and OL19 Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley show them. OS Explorer maps OL31 North Pennines, OL43 Hadrians Wall cover the Alston and North Pennines area.
Downloadable Mountain Bike rides around Ullswater
The following Mountain Bike rides are taken from our free 'Biking around Ullswater' leaflet and are also available online:
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The Old Coach Road - 19.5 miles (31.4km), starting from Aira Force.
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Boredale and Eastern Flanks of Ullswater - 18.6 miles (30km), starting from Glenridding.
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Moor Divock - 14.6 miles (23.5km) starting from Pooley Bridge.
Mountain Biking around Alston
For details of mountain bike rides around Alston in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), order a free copy of our 'Biking around Alston leaflet' available from Alston Tourist Information Centre.
Askham Fell above Ullswater
You might also wish to try this great ride, which takes a slightly different route to the Moor Divock route above. You'll need OS Map OL5.
Park above Helton (GR NY497214) and ride the bridleway track towards Pooley Bridge until you reach the large cairn at GR 482227, then head south to The Cockpit stone circle which is an ideal spot for lunch. Follow the track east from here then retrace your route, remembering to stop and play in the "dippy downs" - a long natural bowl at the side of the track that gives all the thrills of a BMX park.
