[Closed] LAKE DISTRICT ROUTE...THE TONGUE?

anyone?

Caps?

Hi Craig,
I've only ever run round there so don't know for sure but this may be of use:
https://flattyres-mtb.co.uk/route-guides/lake-district-mtb-routes/high-street-to-hell/

I don't think I've met you, so I won't attempt to judge your ability to ride your suggested loop...

I've stayed at the farm at the top of Stockgill Lane and reckon your route down to Ambleside that way will be perfectly rideable. I think there are signs to tell you that you shouldn't, of course. The Struggle itself might be more fun, it's wider and without blind corners with walkers on.

I've also been up High Street (east of the Tongue), not an easy one to ride in one go.

The bridleway up alongside Hagg Gill is good farm track until you reach open fellside around the 300m contour, then it's a push up until you can ride the last bit along the ridge to Thornthwaite beacon. From there over to the top of the Kirkstone is generally rideable terrain, but with another steep carry onto Stony Cove Pike and some on/off the bike depending how much nadgery you want to attempt.

The farmer at Middle Grove on the lane under Wansfell is (or was, anyway) notoriously hostile to mountain bikes. No idea why but there you go (and its footpath not bridleway).

Thanks guys. I dont fancy highstreet with all this rain.

Is the tongue route any good or boring? I did wheelbase Nan beild last week and was looking for something else local. 20ish miles but maybe without some much carrying as last week (gatesgarth)

Anything involving Stoney Cove Pike is going to be pretty full on with some carry up and down. The climb up the Tongue is pretty slow going, being an increasingly steep grassy bank. Plenty of other routes I'd choose to do first

Thanks...think ill give it a swerve. Or incorporate it into a highstreet ride at some point (as opposed to starting in ullswater).

I've ridden that path down the Tongue from Park Fell Head and can confirm it's not worthwhile up or down. My preferred circuit of that area is taking the BW up onto Thornthwaite Crag, descending with great excitement to the col (it's awesome if you like super steep rocky tech) and then hiking onto Stony Cove Pike, across Ravens Edge to the top of Kirkstone Pass, then hiking up to Red Screes and descending the broad ridge South to Ambleside, returning via Wansfell.

Ouff thats sounds hard work...plus I'm more of an Xc mincer haha. Thanks tho.much appreciated

I should imagine the farmer is hostile to mountainbikers because it is a footpath......
Near here we've had legal routes locked shut by a farmer, and before anyone chimes in about how that shouldn't be I happen to know that he had drenched and undrenched flocks repeatedly mixed up by muppets leaving gates open. I made sure Polaris compensated him, but all these years later I don't blame him.

QQ about the area.
Is the quickest way up High Street from Ambleside:
Up the Struggle to Kirkstone Inn
Up and along Ravens Edge
I've Stony Cove Pike
Down to the col and a
Up the other side?

Or is it just as easy to go the bridleways past High Skelghyl to Troutbeck and then north along the bridleways.

Actually, the latter looks best in some ways.

@thegeneralist Definitely the latter! The other route would involve an epic amount of ascent, hiking and bog flailing with no decent descents.

@sefton The other entertaining bit of trail in that area which is rarely used (because it doesn't link into anything well?) is the ~3km of BW running parallel to the Kirsktone pass on it's East side just North of Troutbeck. It's rideable up and down and give a varied and moderate difficulty descent - xc mincer friendly! I tend to climb up on tarmac and descend it as part of a longer ride.

The other route would involve an epic amount of ascent, hiking and bog flailing with no decent descents

Righto. TBH I wasn't looking for decent descents at this stage In fact no descent at all was optimum for this bit of my ride, since. I'm just trying to get to the top of HS as easily as possible. The plan was to link HS into some other hills and the end of the ride would be down through Grasmere into Ambleside, so want to keep the rest as easy as possible.

Many thanks

I think I can see it on the map...hard wood to (almost) town head

i think thats the one he's on about, we sometimes use it as a climb just to get of the road for a bit when we are going up red screes from ambleside.

Red screes? Tell me about that please?

been up today and did stoney cove to kirkstone. not sure i'll bother again. really struggled with the descent from thornthwaite, just found it so loose i couldn't keep speed under control and possibly not helped being on my own and cloud kept blowing in and then the descent down to kirkstone from stoney cove was mainly open grassy boggy(with pitching in the wetter bits) and boring and then the last bit had a couple of unridable sections.
i was also going to do red screes but by that point realised how much fitness i'm lacking at the moment.

@sefton red screes is a carry up, probably for about 45 minutes and the way we have always done it is to descend of the other side down to scandale pass, its a fast blast down the open hill side but there is a few rocky areas on the way. from the bottom you either go straight on and head to fairfield or turn left for ambleside, going left theres a bit more fun descending with one tricky rocky section but after that its a wide open track the rest of the way.
if i'd gone up red screes today i was going to have a look at the other way down the ridge.

Red Screes is best from High Sweden Bridge up to Scandals Pass and then right and up to Red Screes. The bits you can ride up are great, the hike a bike is a bugger.

would't be surprised if the pushing/carrying time is about the same both ways up although less carrying(or none) your way. planning on going up soon and trying out the descent down the ridge so might go up the way you suggest, means less riding on the road as well.