December 2025 - Trail of the Month

For full navigation data download the GPX file and watch the Strava fly through. Then watch our ride video for a highlights preview of the route.

Route information

Hawes to Bainbridge 0 - 8km

Starting from the car park of the Dales Countryside Museum puts you in the perfect spot to learn some local history and grab some spares / snacks and a starting brew at Stage 1 cycles. It also lets you dodge the one-way system in Hawes and head northwards over the old railway and the river Ure on the old multi arch Haylands bridge. It’s aptly named too, as it spans between broad meadows that are in stark contrast to the steeply rising hills to north and south. This bottleneck in turn is why the Norse settlers who thrived in this remote Scandinavian style landscape gave Hawes (‘Pass’ in old Norse) its name.

It was over a thousand years later that it became a settlement of any size though, growing as wool and flax trades flourished, and local lead mining became more important in the 17th century. It wasn’t until the very end of the 18th century that the turnpike road between Richmond and Lancaster was finally diverted from the course of the Roman Road and through the town, with the railway arriving 70 years after that.

This relatively late start explains the timeless landscape that you turn eastwards into (1.5km) once you’ve opened your legs on a short climb up towards Sedbusk. From here the road weaves and rolls gradually downwards through ancient dry stone wall fields and their signature stone barns above the river Ure turning left to cross them both at Yorebridge (7.2km).

From here it’s a short kick up into the beautiful village of Bainbridge, with its old stone houses scattered around a generous green. There’s a pub and a village shop here if you fancy refreshments already. If you aren’t bothered with having a mooch around Hawes before / after the ride you could start/finish from here if you wanted too.

Bainbridge to Cam High Road 8 - 17km

While Hawes might be a relatively young settlement, Bainbridge has been on the map for nearly 2000 years thanks to the Romans who built a small transit fort on a small hill just to the west of the town and called it Virosidum.

The remaining earthworks will become very clear as you climb steeply up the Marsett road out of Bainbridge. Looking back to admire them is a perfect excuse to get your breath back at the top too as the road is perfectly aligned with the centre of the fort. While the road turns left at 9.4km you’ll continue on the alignment of the Roman Road with the rocky byway arrowing towards the distant skyline in a caricature straight line.

While the original Roman surface is buried a couple of feet deep under the lower sections of Cam High Road, the higher you go, the more the mixed surface is likely to have seen some legionary sandals. Losing yourself in the possible life stories of two millennia of users is a good way to take your mind off the sheer length of the climb too, as while it’s mostly not that steep, 9km of climbing is a lot of tempo to tap out. Alternatively, just take the time to drink in the incredible views over Wensleydale that expand more and more with every pedal stroke.

The top section not only sees the Romans take a slight swerve to sidestep the lump of Wether Fell, but it also puts you onto big sheets of the raw rock that creates the stunning uplands you’re now lumping across. The gentle roll down the far side is a perfect chance to stretch out your legs and back before you go through the gate to join the road at Howgate Head.

Here you’ll be treated to a view straight down the barrel of the infamous final ramp of the road climb up the north side of Fleet Moss. It’s much steeper than the Cam High Road that you just climbed, but significantly shorter and isn’t covered in rocks, so make sure your face looks suitably unimpressed if you see a roadie pain face struggling past.

Howgate Head to Kidhow Gate 17 - 22.2km

There are two options from here, of which we’ve obviously chosen the slightly longer and potentially boggy extra off road choice as the default. If you can’t be arsed with a km of grass, take the right road fork at 17.8km and FFWD straight to the 20.1km.

Otherwise, peel left and climb the last two road kickers to the highest point of ‘Long Slack Gate’. On a clear day this gives you views of the peat moorland of Fleet Moss, which is apparently big enough to see from space and is currently being revived by ecologists after disastrous draining and erosion by landowners.

From the summit you curve down on the road for 200m then turn right through a gate onto a double track leading towards a dry stone lined mine entrance from the area’s industrial past. Then it’s a lump and bump along singletrack through a couple of gates to rejoin the spectacularly smooth and well surfaced single track road along the edge of Kidhow. On a good day the views from here out beyond Pen Y Ghent and down Ribblesdale and Langstrothdale are glorious. On a bad day this is where you’ll realise why we told you to pack extra layers as this is a peak weather exposure point. We were certainly glad to turn north out of the sub zero windchill at Kidhow Gate on our recce ride, but if you fancy an extra 20km of surprisingly different riding we’ve added an extra loop south into Oughtershaw in the notes at the end.* 

Cam Road 22.2 - 28.9km

The wildness of this area is reinforced as you head north along the eastern edge of Snaizeholme on the old gravel drove road. While we started in thick cloud, it broke early enough to give an incredible scene of the mist pouring over the steep horseshoe head into the vivid greens and browns of the valley below. The layout of ancient walls, block stone barns and a couple of remote cottages among the cascading streams and huddled woods, likely unchanged for centuries. The rolling hills of Widdale and upper Wensleydale are equally raw and beautiful but don’t get totally transfixed by the view as the top section is shared with the Pennine Way so can be busy with walkers. As the Pennine Way peels off to the right at 26km the track steepens into some loose rocky sections you’ll need to go careful on too. Particularly if you’re on a gravel bike with narrow tyres rather than an MTB. Once the gradient starts to ease off again (around 27km) you can open it up a bit more. Be aware that this is still a popular route with walkers, runners, and horse riders coming up from Hawes so don’t be a dick.