Cycling routes
Cyclist Brian Gort's website is a collection of 50+ favourite cycle routes suggested by site visitors. The routes are described mile by mile and mapped. Suggest your own routes. |
Find your route in the forest. This page will allow you to search by name of the forest, nearest town, by country or county or by grade of route. The Forestry Commission now has a new marketing programme for getting more people into the great outdoors: Active Woods, and cycling plays an important part in forest recreation. |
This is the CTC guide to designated cycle routes. It was formerly a paper publication but is now kept up-to-date online only. To access the wealth of information in the county listings it's necessary to download PDFs of each county. Within the PDFs there's a list of all the known routes, plus info on where to get a descriptive leaflet (usually free); and where you can request or purchase a map and/or guide of the route. The data on each county listing is fantastically detailed, although this means it could take some time to wade through. |
The Waterscape website is run by British Waterways, the organisation responsible for maintaining 2,000 miles of inland waterways. Canal towpaths are often ideal, linear cycle routes. |
These forest trails - such as the 7Stanes, the Laggan Wolftrax and the Witch's Trails - are now legendary in MTB circles and the Forestry Commission has brought their websites into on easily accessible place. |
Click on 'Cycling' in 'Activity' for info on the Peddars Way, the Pennine Bridleway, the Ridgeway and the South Downs Way. |
National Cycle Network route numbers |
Advice and recommendations from the CTC. |
This is a photo journal of a ride on the 'Sea to Sea' cycle route, from Whitehaven to Sunderland, featuring personalities you could meet on the way... |
"Just because a route is not on the [definitive] map does not mean that it is not a right of way. Likewise, just because a way is recorded as a footpath does not mean that there is not be an unrecorded right of way for cycling on it." This CTC info on reclaiming 'lost' routes is highly involved but absorbing, especially for 'lost roads' buffs. |
The 81 in-depth route descriptions on this site are from a guidebook. |
The C2C - from Whitehaven/Workington to Tynemouth/Sunderland - is one of the Uk's most popular, and challenging, long-distance bicycle routes. it's 140 miles: doesn't sound a lot but the route is no walk in the park. |
Quiet lanes, towpaths, ex-railway tracks, beautiful scenery, hills, plain, coast, historic sites, tourist spots, Peak National Park. Map of route marked with cycle repair shops, cafes, campsites, gardens, places of note to visit. Distance chart. |
The Seven Stanes route-building project is creating mountain bike trails in Scottish forests. There are graded routes suitable for everything from family riders to experienced MTBers with a penchant for North Shore aerial rope bridges... |
Info on CTC's events this year. |
Easy to look at map of the national byway routes |






