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I've booked halfterm in Gunnerside, is there any riding for kids 4-9yo, something like a gravel version of Keswick-Threkeld railway route would be good, or if I put the 4yo on the shotgun (she's bit big) then I reckon the twins (7yo) would manage something like cockpit-howtown if I towed them up on the eeb.
My daughter loved this at that sort of age...
https://www.theforbiddencorner.co.uk/
...sorry - read that as stuff to do with kids - not rides with kids! 🤣
I’ll second the Swale Trail. Not exactly easy for little ones but doable and very nice. Could always do sections rather than the whole thing. My 4 year old has ridden decent parts of it but never the whole thing for example on his single speed early rider.
Apedale is quite pleasant though it's a slog uphill from Gunnerside to get to the start. OK if you are driving to the start and if you are perhaps go round to the East end of Apedale on Grinton Moor. Also the trails around Great Pinseat.
that's really helpful thanks guys. Will give some sections from Gunnerside a go. I'm a single Dad so can't get someone to do uplift/recovery duties. Can take the eeb and tow the little one(s) if needed.
The Apedale track is reasonably flat for a couple of kms from the very summit of the road between Reeth and Redmire, if you want some high level stuff for relatively little effort. It kicks up a bit after that, though, so it would be an out-and-back. Has some old shooting/mining huts/bothies which are interesting to explore.
I'd probably still go for the Swale Trail, even though it will be a bit more uppy-downy in places. Sitting by rivers is nice.
Have a session bunny-hopping the buttertubs.
Make sure you count the children afterwards…
Make sure you count the children afterwards…
There's 4, so plenty of spares.
The Apedale track is reasonably flat for a couple of kms from the very summit of the road between Reeth and Redmire, if you want some high level stuff for relatively little effort. It kicks up a bit after that, though, so it would be an out-and-back. Has some old shooting/mining huts/bothies which are interesting to explore.
We'll probably do both, is this the start here - How Hill
We'll probably do both, is this the start here
That's Harkerside Moor which is also doable. Apedale is further south - see map. Depending on you much you want to do/how long you want to be out you you could do a circuit of Harkerside and Apedale.
That Harkerside Apedale loop is lovely, but comes with enough climbing to exhaust the haribo reserve of most dads, especially the final pull back to the car if you park at the top of the Redmire road.
If you just want an out and back, find a parking spot as near to the cattle grid marked above - as you can see you start at about 400m, drop slightly, climb back up to 400 ish, but it doesn't start heading up properly until Apedale Beck splits about 2kms past the crossroads. The huts just off left next to the crossroads are normally open if you need somewhere out of the wind to have sandwiches etc. It can get chilly up there.
It's all wide doubletrack with a decent surface.