Summertime in the Peak District 🌞
I have been fortunate to live in the Peak District for almost all of my life. Cycling in these hills since the introduction of the first modern mountain bikes. Experience an unforgettable adventure on the best trails with our hire fleet and local knowledge.
With a wide variety of routes to cater for all abilities, an extensive range of hire bikes and direct access to 170 miles worth of guided trails from the shop.
Difficulty: Challenging
Length: 24 Miles (38km)
Elevation Gain: 4,500ft (1370m)
Starting at the Bike Garage cross over the road to Shatton Lane. Follow this quiet lane before taking the first left. Follow this lane for 0.3 miles until you get to a gate, through this gate is a bridleway through a field that has a short steep climb followed by a quick descent before getting to the next road. From here follow this road up to the next bridleway on your right, this bridleway takes you up towards the start of the first climb of the day up to Shatton Mast.
Once through this gate you follow the bridleway for just under one mile through the open moorland before joining the top of Shatton Lane where it becomes a wide gravel trail. Continue following this lane past the mast, through a few gates then around to the top of the Bradwell descent.
The Bradwell descent is a brilliant little singletrack, it is just shy of half a mile (0.8km) descending roughly 350ft (106m). It can be a little slippery if there has been some rain down and keep an eye out for other trail users. After dropping down to Bradwell it is time to climb back up to the top of cavedale. This is the second climb of the day, it is a long one at 3 miles (5km) and climbing 810ft (245m) so settle in and get ready for the upcoming Cavedale descent.
Cavedale is a very popular descent with all trail users. It starts out at a gentle gradient through open fields before dropping into a very tough, technical boulder field. Lasting approximately 1.3 miles (2km) and descending 675ft (205m) you will come across a wide range of trail surfaces that will test your technical skills and brakes! If you are descending Cavedale on the weekend you should anticipate other users to be on the trail, it is a very popular one for walkers. Once you have reached the bottom of the descent you will find yourself in Castleton where you will work your way towards the Old Mam Tor road, also known as the broken road. This is a 0.6 mile (1km) section of abandoned road due to historical landslides giving it a very post-apocalyptic feel. This climb will take you up towards the next descend of the day, Greenhills.
By now you are 13 miles (21km) into the ride – over halfway! The next descent is a Peak District classic, Greenlands. This is a brilliant 0.5-mile (0.8km) descent down the grassy slopes of Mam Tor. It is a mix of wide sections and deep rutted lines so be sure to keep an eye on your line! After reaching the end of this descent it is back up the great ridgeline to Hollins Cross, a 0.6 mile (1km) climb covering more rutted sections and some natural steps towards the top – Kudos if you are able to clean it. Once at Hollins Cross it is a turn to the left, dropping down to Back Tor farm. This is a similar descent to Greenhills dropping 450ft (137m) over 0.6 miles (1km) to the Edale road where you take a right and follow the road for 0.8 miles (1.3km) before taking a left through a date to start climbing the bridleway towards Jaggers Clough.
The climb up from Jaggers Clough to Hope Cross is a steep one, ideal if you have hired an e-bike, it is popular in both directions so once again, keep an eye on other trail users. Once at Hope Cross continue straight to The Beast. This is another Peak District classic, it is 0.3 miles (0.5km) starting with a rocky descent into the woods before becoming much more boulder covered twisting down the hill side. Keep an eye out for the gate on the right at the second major left bend, you are going through here onto the fire track that runs along the south side of the Derwent reservoir. Follow this fire track for 0.4 miles (0.6km) and turn right after the gate to start climbing up Elmin Pits, this climb takes you back up just south east of Hope Cross putting you on for the final descent of the day.
Turn left at the top of Elmin Pits and follow the top of the ridge towards Win Hill for 1.1 miles (1.7km), keeping an eye out for the bridleway dropping to the right you take this down to Aston. This is the last descent of the route and is a fast flowy way to finish the day. You descend for roughly one mile (1.6km) dropping 365ft (111m) providing a really good finish to this ride with brilliant views over the Peak District. Once you hit the road at the bottom turn left and follow it through to Thornhill, when you see the red phone box turn right, drop down the hill and turn left onto Water Lane. From here follow the lane for 0.4 miles (0.6km), turn right onto the Bamford Recreational Ground and follow the trail back to the Bike Garage.
With this you are done, you will have covered 24 miles and roughly 4,500ft of climbing through six brilliant descents.
The Bike Garage is an independent family-owned bike shop which set out in 2010 with one mission: Help people get out on bikes more and experience our amazing local countryside. Every year, our cycle hire helps people from all over the world of any skill level experience an unforgettable adventure riding in the Peak District.
Jump on a train in Sheffield station. Or arrive via car and begin your adventure. With tailored route information and trails for all levels. We offer a range of high-quality Trek bikes, in a range of frame sizes. The bikes are intended for off-road use on the bridleways, singletrack and trails in the Peak District. Offering Hardtail, Full suspension and Electric mountain bikes.
The video feature some of our favourite local trail including Mam Tor, Lady Cannings Blue Steel flow trail, Hope Cross aka The Beast and Whinstone lee tor as well as others.
We were extremely proud to have been voted best cycle hire in the Peak District By Tripadvisor travel blog in 2018. Feel free to browse our site to see more about what I do or book your cycle hire. If you can’t find what you need, feel free to get in touch!
Hope to see you in the shop soon! – James, Owner
Difficulty: Medium
Length: 11 miles (17.7km)
Elevation Gain: 1,220ft (370m)
The 11 mile loop has something for everyone and provides some incredible views. Over the Mam Tor Ridgeline. The Beast descent is challenging and does require a certain amount of bike control and confidence. Large rocks and loose stones can throw experienced riders off however it is a brilliant descent if you have the confidence.
The ride starts at the Bike Garage in Bamford, taking a right at the main road and another right at the wooden gate just opposite Shatton Lane.
From here the ride works its way to Water Lane through the Bamford and Thornhill Recreation Ground, a large open space just behind the Bike Garage. Water Lane is followed for almost half a mile before joining onto Thornhill Lane, this is followed for roughly 0.2 miles before turning left by the red phone box keep an eye out for it!
After following Thornhill Lane for a mile the route takes a sharp right heading up towards the Aston Bridleway, you will ride down a few fast hills before this so keep an eye out for traffic! After the steep little climb to the house at the top, the bridleway is on the left by the gate, this is a perfect place to stop and have a drink etc.
From here the route is all offroad and it has a huge range of surfaces, the first bridleway climbs roughly 370ft over 1.1 miles, it has a couple of gates along the way so respect the landowners and close them once you have got through them. On the day of filming (21st June 2018), the bridleway was running perfectly and even a bit dusty but note that trail conditions can change, recent work by Peak District Mountain Biking has vastly improved the drainage so it should be ok regardless of the weather.
After following the bridleway for just over a mile you get to the highest point of the ride, if the weather is clear you will be rewarded with brilliant views of the Peak District and the Mam Tor Ridgeline. You will see a green sign identifying the footpath up to Win Hill and the bridleway that you have just ridden up, the Beast of Hope Cross continues away from Win Hill towards Hope Cross via some grassy, sandy bridleway.
The climb to Hope Cross is a fairly technical one, it is loose and rocky with a number of steps along the way, keep it in a low gear and make sure the legs keep spinning! Once at the top of this climb the route turns right to go down The Beast, this is the main feature descent of this loop dropping you 330ft over 0.5 miles. The Beast is rocky, loose and often changes so make sure you keep an eye on the trail in front of you, on this run I found a log down across part of the trail!
Towards the bottom of The Beast the route goes through the gate towards the large firetrack that runs along the bottom of the Ladybower Reservoir. This wide firetrack is followed for around 3.2 miles before joining onto the Thornhill Trail, it is easy to speed down the road and miss the trail so look out for it on the right-hand side as you pass the reservoir. The Thornhill Trail is followed for 1.5 miles before joining back onto Water Lane and through the recreation ground before getting back to the shop.
This loop provides riders with a perfect mix of terrain and riding without having to cover mega milage or altitude. If you are hiring a bike from the Bike Garage it works perfectly as you are able to start and finish from the hire point! This ride took just over one hour to complete but it is safe to allocate up to two and a half hours depending on how long it takes to climb, how many stops you take and how fast you descend. There are a number of scenic spots along this route making it perfect for someone wanting to take it steady and enjoy the views.
You can download the GPX of the route through Strava by following this link.
