Yorkshire Divide

Date: 20th / 21st September 2025

Distance: 151km (100 miles) / 236km (160 miles)

The Calder Divide Trail is a multi day adventure across 12 valleys, 6 moors and 1 floodplain in West Yorkshire. From ancient bridleways across the Pennine moors to new gravel paths in the Southern Washlands and on through the center of small towns like Hebden Bridge and Marsden this trail takes you through a diverse and stunning landscape.

On the event weekend of 20th / 21st September there are four routes and riders receive gpx files to all routes so you can decide nearer the time which to ride and swap between them on Day 1 and Day 2.

Gravel tracks to the EAST on the level floodplain

Old packhorse lanes to the WEST in the steep Pennine hills

The watershed of the Calder is not a fixed line, permanently marked on a map. It is a broad divide that separates rivers along a ridge of high ground.

This corner of Yorkshire the watershed is criss-crossed by bridleways, causeways and greenways etched into the landscape over the last 700 years as farmers, labourers and merchants went about their day-to-day lives.

This has gifted us one divide but many trails you can take to explore this diverse landscape. In summary there are five trail options along the Calder Divide:

The Calder Divide Trail is a single fixed 145 miles route for rider, runner or walker
The Calder Divide Trail bikepacking event has four route options from 100 to 150 miles.

GPX Route File

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.

NB. British Rail have closed a section of the Spen Valley Greenway and so there is a short detour through the center of Dewsbury. This former mill town has a very different feel to the small towns and villages in the Upper Calder eg Hebden Bridge and Marsden as the population on Dewsbury town center is mainly Asian. The detour will be in place till 2027 as the rail improvement project is a major affair.

NB 2: On the event weekend we use a modified version of this route as we have a starting line in Mytholmroyd.

Gravel bike route

The ‘Washlands’ route is a ‘red’ grade that is rewarding ride over a number of days and easily linked via the many train stations.

It differs to the ‘black mtb’ route as the River Calder is crossed near Horbury rather than further downstream at Castleford and we take sections of farmers double track below Midgley moor rather than the moorland singletrack which is best left to the mtbers.

Overgate Hospice, Elland

For over 40 years Overgate Hospice has provided vital support for people with life limiting illnesses. Will Norman was part of our ‘Bike Club’. Tragically Will died in 2021 from cancer and his last few days were in the care of Overgate Hospice. When I last met Will I made a promise to him to ‘do a big ride’. The Calder Divide trail is that ride and we’re proud to be able to aid the work of the hospice over the last three years with a donation of over £9,500.

ACCOMMODATION in the Upper Calder Valley

OLD CHAMBER FARM AND CAMPING

Old Chamber Farm and Camping is 10 minutes from the start line. The campsite is on a working farm with facilities such as shower / toilets / barn.

Contact Ann Jones directly to book a pitch (£12)

Ann: 07814 321606 (stating that you are here to camp for the Yorkshire Divide bike event)

Email: oldchamber.aj@gmail.com

Old Chamber Farm, Hebden Bridge, HX7 6JG

The campsite is on a working farm with basic facilities such as shower / toilets / barn.

Contact Ann Jones directly to book a pitch (£12). Details below.

Email: oldchamber.aj@gmail.com

Ann is a 2nd generation farmer who raises North of England Mules, a cross-bred sheep sired by a Blue Faced Leicester ram and a Swaledale dam, on 230 acres of land above Hebden Bridge. It's an old, intensely managed landscape but done so sustainably with a whole range of projects going on behind the scenes such as planting 700 metres of hedging and working with Calder Rivers Trust to monitor run off and water quality.

Travel to the Old Chamber campsite:

The road up to us is a single-track road with passing places. You must follow the directions set out below. Do not follow your sat nav or google maps to get to us as it will take you up tracks that you wish you’d never been!!

Old Chamber Farm
Erringden
Hebden Bridge
West Yorkshire

1. From the Co-op on Market Street in the center of Hebden Bridge turn onto the side road called Hebble End

2. Take the left fork onto Shelf Road to head uphill crossing a bridge that takes you over the main railway line

3. Keep going past the houses on what is now 'Palace House Road' until you reach the end

4. Take the concrete road named Wood top and follow it all the way up the steep hillside, going very slow over the little rough bit.

5. Take Spencer Lane which is a very very steep cobbled lane straight in front.

6. Turn right at the top passing a building with a big stone arch.

7. Our house is the very last property and the camping is just past it.

On arriving at the farm phone Ann or knock on her farmhouse door and she will show you where to pitch up / park on the field.