mtb c2c book.pdf

Route Description
1. Leave Ravenglass on Main Street. Carry straight on at Holly House Hotel with the
Mite estuary on your left. Pass the railway station and duck under the national
railway line. Soon after, pass under the much smaller La’al Ratty line.
2. Pass the campsite on your right and go under the big pylons. Turn right onto the
A595 on a swooping bend. Look out for traffic here but there’s barely half a mile of
A-road to do. Where the 595 swerves ninety degrees right, go onto a bridleway
called Fell Lane going straight on.
3. Climb steadily to a junction just below Muncaster Tarn, and drop to High
Eskholme. From here, skirt the foot of Muncaster Fell on good bridleway past the
farm of Muncaster Head to the road at Forge House.
4. Go left on the road for a few yards to the bridge and take the bridleway on the
south side of the river. This leads through pleasant woodland for three and a half
miles along the bottom of the valley to Whahouse Bridge.
5. Rejoin the road, albeit briefly, going up to the vertiginous foot of Hardknott Pass.
At Jubilee Bridge, cut back on yourself on the right over the river. Climb steeply on
a raking path that perversely brings you back west.
6. Gain the col between Harter Fell and Ulpha Fell on rough ground. You will need
confident skills at both riding and route-finding here.
7. Look especially carefully for the bridleway fork at SD214988. You want to go right
here, down to the farm at Grassguards. At the time of writing (autumn 2014) the
terrain has been substantially reshaped by clear felling. It’s not all bad news as the
long-term plan is to replace much of the coniferous monotony with proper, broadleafed
woodland. In the meantime, we have to be patient with the rather messy
Work In Progress.
8. Drop down the northern side of the stream to the rickety wire supporting the
stepping stones across the Duddon at SD228976. Ride up to the road then turn
right to drop down joyous swoop of tarmac across Tarn Beck to the gauntletdropping
sign “Coniston: Unfit for Cars.”
9. Climb. Climb like you’ve never climbed before. The way is steep. The way is rough.
But the way is good. After considerable collar-work, gain the satisfyingly decisive
brow of Walna Scar.