1 From the Steamer Car Park headout to join the A592. Turn L onto itand follow it through Patterdale for1.8km to a turning on the L toRooking. Follow the lane for 400mto a junction with two bridleways.Take the RH bridleway and followit a short distance up hill to joinanother bridleway. Follow it steeplyup hill to Boredale Hause, it is ride-able, but most mortals will chooseto push their bike up it!

2 The bridleway heads across thehause towards Boredale into anotch. You will need to carry/pushyour bike through the notch but itis soon passed and it brings you tothe top of the fantastic descenttrack into Boredale. Follow it all theway down hill to the road atBoredale Head.

Start: Glenridding steamer piercar park, GR NY389169

Finish: Pooley Bridge car parkGR NY470244

Distance: 18.6 miles (30km)

Grade: Medium - Challenge

RefreshmentsCafés: Glenridding, Patterdale,Pooley BridgePubs: Glenridding, Patterdale,Pooley Bridge, HowtownShops: Glenridding,Patterdale, Pooley Bridge

3 Join the road and follow it downBoredale and then over the roadpass at Martindale to Howtown.From Howtown follow the roadalongside Ullswater to the X roadsat Pooley Bridge.

1 Cross the bridge over the RiverEamont on the B5320 and follow italong the shore of Ullswater to thejunction with the A592. Turn R andfollow it for 1.6km to a turning onthe L at a bend. Turn on to it andfollow the road to Dacre. Just up hillafter crossing the bridge over DacreBeck turn L and then follow the roadfor 2.6km to a X roads.

2 Turn R and follow the road to ajunction at Sparket Mill. Turn R againand follow the road across CalleyBridge and up hill to a jct. Turn Lthrough Hutton to a fork.

Start/finish: Pooley BridgeGR NY470244

Distance: 17.3 miles (28km)

Grade: Medium - Challenge

RefreshmentsCafés: Pooley BridgePubs: Pooley Bridge, DacreShops: Pooley Bridge

3 Take the L branch and follow theroad through the dog-leg atStoddahgate and on to a T jct atStoddah Bank. Turn L and follow theroad through the gap between GreatMell Fell and Little Mell Fell for 2.7kmto a fork. Take the L branch for 630mround a bend to a jct.

4 Turn R at the junction and headto a fork. At the fork take the Lbranch and follow it up to Ulcat Rowand past Todgill to a T jct. Turn Rand follow past the side of Little MellFell to a jct. Take the L branch whichleads round past the camp sites toBennethead.

4 Turn R at the X roads and followthe lane ahead as it climbs to a gate(bridleway) at Roehead. Follow thebridleway as it climbs on to MoorDivock. At a X roads on Moor Divock(marked by a stone bench post) turnR and follow the rough section oftrack to The Cockpit (a megalithicstone circle).

5 From The Cockpit head along themain track (ignoring the High Streetbridleway/Roman Road) and followit to the side of a wall. This is thestart of the down hill. It gives a longinteresting descent to finally jointhe road at Howtown after a loopthrough Mellguards.

6 From Howtown follow the roadalongside Ullswater back to PooleyBridge.

Set amongst the gentle rolling fells on the northern side of Ullswaterthe modest peaks of Great Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell displayinstantly recognisable profiles. They are surrounded by quiet lanesthat loop them at a relatively high level. This cycle ride followsthese lanes circum-navigating Little Mell Fell and nipping in thegap between Great Mell Fell allowing wonderful perspectives ofthem both and also opening up vistas to all the surroundingmountains and valleys.

Great Mell Fell and Little MellFell Cycle Loop 5 Turn R at the jct at Bennethead

and head along the road to anotherjct after 150m. Take the L fork whichis followed to a T jct. Turn R andhead to Dacre then turn R againand retrace your outbound routeback to Pooley Bridge.

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1 Turn R out of the car park on tothe A592 then turn R onto theA5091 and follow it steeply up hillto Dockray.

2 Turn L past The Royal Hotel andfollow the road as it climbs thoughGreen How and Bank to a jct andcar park at Red Moss.

3 This is the start of Old CoachRoad - go through the gate andfollow it alongside the trees for7.2km. Generally the going is easybut there are some boggy sectionsand a couple of climbs. The last3.2km section down to the B5322at Wanthwaite gives a fairly speedydescent.

East of Ullswater the massive Helvellyn range presents a formidablewall of high peaks. The first feasible breach in its defences is onthe flanks of Clough Head and Matterdale Common at the northernend. At this point an old coaching road links Dockray with St John'sin the Vale and provides an exciting high-level mountain bikeroute. The riding is a combination of moderate technical challengeswith some fantastic descents and a pleasant return via minor roadsand cycle tracks giving wide ranging views of both Skiddaw andBlencathra.

4 Turn R onto the B5322 and followit to a junction with the A66.Carefully cross the A66 and join thelane on the opposite side. Thissection is busy and the traffic is fastso great care needs to be exercisedwhilst crossing.

5 Follow the lane up to a T jct andturn R and follow this to another Tjct in the centre of Threlkeld. At thisjunction turn R again and continuepast the pub then turn L on Fell SideRoad which is followed to the cycletrack by the side of the A66. Followthis to Scales.

6 Continue on the A66 for 200muntil opposite the Wallthwaiteturning. Cross the A66 (with care - extremely busy) and turn R onto it,follow the lane for 1km to a junction(second turning). Turn R and headinto Wallthwaite. The road turns acorner in Wallthwaite and is thenfollowed for 3.5km to the A5091.Turn R and follow the A5091through Matterdale End to Dockray.

7 From Dockray retrace the routeback down the A5091 to the startat Aira Force car park.

Start/finish: Aira ForceCar Park GR NY400199

Distance: 19.5 miles (31.4km)

Grade: Medium - Challenge

RefreshmentsCafés: ThrelkeldPubs: Dockray, Threlkeld,Scales,Troutbeck.Shops: Threlkeld

The Old Coach Road(Mountain Bike Ride)

Tucked away behind Place Fell the Boredale bridleway is a well-established classic mountain bike descent. The normal way of doingit is as a brief loop around Place Fell but with judicious use of theUllswater Steamers as a link a neat route can be worked out fromeither Pooley Bridge or Glenridding that takes in the Boredaledescent and for added value includes the equally classic descentfrom Moor Divock to Howtown. There is a steep ascent to BoredaleHause at the start of the ride and there are a couple of brieftechnical passages so this ride falls squarely into the experiencedriders remit, but if you have ridden the rough stuff before andhave bags of enthusiasm then this is the route for you.

Boredale and Eastern Flanksof Ullswater (Mountain Bike Ride)

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