mtb route

The GPX file shown below is the ‘original’ route which connects tracks and lanes around the watershed - the edge of the ‘basin’ - of the River Calder and its fluvial sisters the Colne, Hebble, Holme, Ryburne and Spen.

British Rail have closed a section of the Spen Valley Greenway where a pedestrian and cycle bridge crosses the main road. There is a short detour through the center of Dewsbury. The detour will be in place till 2027 as the rail improvement project is a major affair.

 

Gravel bike route

The ‘Washlands’ route is the long gravel bike route and a rewarding ride over a number of days. It is easily linked via the many train stations. It differs to the ‘black mtb’ in three aspects:

  1. It takes gravel tracks below rather than over Midgley Moor

  2. It takes in ace gravel tracks through parkland at Bretton Hall

  3. The trail climbs up to Flower Scar Moor (Source of the Calder) and the huge descent directly into Todmorden