Calderdale Circuit

Region:
Calderdale, West Yorkshire

Difficulty:
Moderate
(For Experienced Riders)

Distance:
18.3 miles

Map:
OS Landranger 103

Route Text Download:
Calderdale Circuit v6

GPS Download:
GPX and KML
(available via the full MapMyRide page for this route, on the right hand side of the page)

ViewRanger
Calderdale Circuit Route

Back to Yorkshire
Route Guides

This mountain bike route of 18.3 miles starts in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. It climbs west out of the town on a circular route around Calderdale. There is a good mixture of trails from tight singletrack to wide fast gravel tracks and technical descending. You’ll need your climbing legs for this one as, although the total amount of climbing is not huge, it comes in big lumps.

1. Start from the car park in the centre of town, which is on the opposite side of the River Hebden to St George's Square, off the A6033 (GR992274). Leave the car park from the thin end by the road junctions then turn left and cross the bridge over the River Hebden to St George's Square. At the square follow the road left to a junction with the A6033. Turn right onto the main road then turn right again at the next junction directly after. Descend a short way to the next junction and take the road on the right. Follow this road around to the left to a junction with the main road at the far end. Turn right to a junction with traffic lights on the main road (GR992272). Go across the junction and follow the main road through town, then at the end of the shops go up a short climb to the traffic lights at the top. Go straight on over the junction and descend to a left hand bend. At the junction in the middle of the corner, take the road on the right that goes past a church (GR985273).

2. After the church climb the steep lane to a junction on a left hand hairpin bend. Go straight ahead along the wide track that climbs steadily through the trees, up the left hand side of Colden Clough. After some time the track comes to a forked junction (GR978281). Take the loose, rocky track on the left and continue climbing, up a steeper gradient. After climbing for some time the track eventually flattens off a little before coming to a junction with a lane by a line of cottages on the left. Go straight on up the lane to where it ends at a junction with a road (GR963281).

3. Turn left on the road and climb through a right hand bend to a junction on the following left hand hairpin (GR959281). Go straight on and continue climbing along a wide track. Go straight on up this track all the way to where it ends at a parking area of some houses. Go through the gate in the far left hand corner and climb the singletrack through a grassy gully to where it ends at a gated junction (GR948279). After the gate turn right and climb the double track to a junction by a house on the left. Bear right and climb the grit stone double track. Go past a house on the right and continue ahead all the way to the top of the hill. After reaching the summit go down a short but fun descent to where the trail ends at a junction (GR939286).

4. Turn left and follow the wide track straight on all the way to the end, where it comes to a junction with a road (GR935273). Turn right and climb the road a short way to the next junction. Turn left and descend the lane to the third junction, a crossroad junction with a track to a farm on the left and a lane on the right, where the lane ahead descends steeply (GR946266). Turn right then descend the lane, which soon goes through a 90° right hand bend past some houses, to a junction on a left hand bend directly after (GR944261).

5. Go straight ahead along a flat section of singletrack with sections of packhorse trail. The track eventually bears right and descends to a stream crossing in a tight gully. Go left through the stream then up the muddy climb that bears right. After a flat middle section bear slightly right and climb to a junction with a lane and a big stone head on the left (GR937261). Go straight ahead along the grassy double track to a gate. After the gate follow the grassy track across the field, keeping to the fence on the right. The trail soon becomes a more defined grassy, muddy and rocky descent that gets quite tricky just before it finishes at a junction, with a gate on the right (GR932260).

6. Turn left and descend the uneven, teeth rattling rocks of the packhorse trail to a gate. After the gate descend the track a short distance to a junction with a lane (GR937257). Turn right and descend the steep gravely lane, over the water bars and around a left hand bend to the next junction (GR940254). Go straight across and head up the gritstone trail that bears right and climbs steeply between the stone walls. The trail soon bears left and flattens off. Descend the singletrack to a junction directly after emerging from the trees. Follow the bridleway sign and jink right then continue straight on along the right hand side of the wall. A short distance later the track come to a junction. Bear left up a short gritstone climb, by a stone wall on the right, then descend to a muddy section that leads on to Todmorden golf course car park. Go straight on through the car park to a junction with a lane (GR946249).

7. Turn right and descend to a junction in the village. Turn left and ride past the church. After passing a graveyard and house on the left take the track on the right directly after a stone house on the right (GR950249). Follow the singletrack in a straight line as it descends across the top of a big drop on the right. The trail becomes twisty as it enters the trees. Eventually the trail goes through a right hand hairpin then climbs to a junction (GR956251).

8. Turn right and follow the wide gravel track through a left hand bend to a junction at the buildings. Go straight on over a short section of cobbles and down the thin rocky and rutted track that descends through the trees ahead. This challenging rocky descent continues all the way down to a junction with a lane, by a railway bridge, in the bottom of the valley (GR960249).

9. Turn right under the bridge to a junction with the main road (A646) directly after. Turn right again and follow the main road a short distance to the next junction with a lane on the left signposted to the Youth Hostel (GR960248). Turn left down this lane and cross the bridge over the river. Follow the lane through a couple of bends then go over the canal. Bear right directly after the canal then at the end of the houses climb through a steep left hand hairpin to begin a long climb out of the valley. Climb the lane through the trees, going straight on at the junction to the Youth Hostel, to a junction at the bottom of a housing estate (GR962240).

10. Bear left up the second lane from the left and climb between the houses. After leaving the houses keep climbing ahead. The lane becomes concrete double track then, near the end, a dirt track that finally comes to a gated junction with the Mary Towneley Loop (GR964236). Go through the gate and turn left then follow the hardpack track as it traverses the hillside underneath the Stoodley Pike monument. Go straight on at the next junction. The trial then bears right and climbs, becoming increasingly rocky. At the junction just after the power lines continue bearing right and climbing. After a while go through a left hand bend, then a gate, and up the rockiest part of the track to a gate by a farm at the top (GR981248).

11. After the gate descend the track to the next junction. Turn left and descend the wide track to a junction with a gated track on the right, which is part of the Pennine Bridleway, opposite a wall that comes in from the left (GR981252). Turn right through the gate and follow the grassy trail between the wall on the right and fence on the left. Continue along the trail to a junction with two gates, one ahead and one on the left (GR983258). Go through the gate on the left and descend the track that follows the line of the stream on the left. The track comes to a three-way junction not long after entering the trees. Turn left and descend through a gate then go over a bridge across a stream. After the bridge bear right and climb a short but difficult, rocky track to a junction at the top (GR980262). Turn right and descend the wide gravel track. Keep ahead on the main track and ignore the one that criss-crosses. The main track bears left before coming to a right hand hairpin at a house. Turn right through this hairpin then left through the next one. Continue descending, going past a track on the left on the way down. At the bottom bear right over the canal to the traffic lights at the main road (GR971264).

12. Turn right onto the main road and ride past the first arch under the railway on the left, signed for the Pennine Bridleway. Turn left under the third railway arch, just before the main road bears right (GR974267). At the junction directly on the other side of the arch turn right and climb the lane, past a row of cottages on the left, to the next junction (GR976268). Turn hard left and climb by the row of houses on the right. At the junction directly at the end of the cottages go straight on. Stay on the lane as it climbs through Knott Wood, going through a number of steep hairpins and bends on the way up. Ignore the junctions with lanes on either side, until it eventually comes to a three-way junction by a house, on the left (GR970269). Turn left and follow the lane on the flat for a short distance to where it ends at a junction. Turn right and climb the lane straight ahead all the way to where it ends at a junction with a road at the houses at the top. Turn left and follow the road a very short distance to a junction with the Pennine Bridleway directly opposite a house on the left (GR964275).

13. Turn right and follow the Pennine Bridleway between the row of houses then go straight ahead up a short climb to the top of the ridge. Continue straight on down the following steep, loose and rocky descent, it can be very fast and there are a big water bar jumps at the bottom. At the end of the rocky track descend the lane to the left of the cottages to a junction just after (GR965281). Turn right and descend the previously climbed track, back down Colden Clough. After a steady start the track steepens for a long, fast rocky blast. Please be careful though as this track is popular with horse riders and walkers. Go straight on at the junction 2/3rds of the way down then follow the track to where it ends at the junction with a lane on the hairpin bend. Go straight on and descend the lane past the church to the junction with the main road (GR985273).

14. Turn left and climb the road to the junction with the traffic lights at top. Go straight on and descend into the centre of Hebden Bridge. Directly before the main road bears right over the River Hebden take the small road on the left (GR991272). Follow the lane along the left hand side of the river. A short distance later bear left then right, past a very steep cobbled lane on the left, and return to the car park to complete the ride.