Cycling

Bowland By Bike

Beautiful unspoilt countryside, picturesque villages, dramatic open moorland incised by steep valleys, and outstanding scenery - all waiting to be explored. What better way to do it than by bike. Silently travelling around this area of outstanding natural beauty under your own power, coming across hidden gems around every corner, this truly is a spectacular area for biking enthusiasts of all types and levels. Download the Bowland By Bike routes leaflet (PDF, 3,466kb) for further details.

Cycle hire, tours and guiding in the Forest of Bowland

Cycle Bowland

Hire a bike for the day and choose one of many carefully designed rides along quiet lanes to hidden delights and country villages. Or stay for a day or two, or three, and ride on relaxing cycle tours with detailed routes, overnight accommodation and baggage transfers included. If you fancy something more challenging off-road, try the MTB Taster Day, take a "learn to mountain bike" course or have a dirty weekend with guides on the fantastic bridleways and single tracks of Gisburn Forest.

For further information visit www.cyclebowland.com or download the leaflets below.

Cycle Bowland - Bowland Guided Cycle Tours in PDF format (786kb).

Cycle Bowland - Bowland Self-guided Cycle Tours in PDF format (1,482kb).

Cycle Adventure

From gentle cycling on quiet lanes and tracks to more adventurous mountain biking on exiting off road trails.

All inclusive flexible cycle hire service including free delivery and collection to any location in the Forest of Bowland with a choice of route sheets for all abilities including helmet, lock, puncture resistant tyres, map holder, pump and expert route advice. Trek front suspension mountain bikes with disc brakes and children's cycles and equipment available.

Stay for longer on a Cycle Adventure Tour and explore the rich variety of landscapes and attractions of this stunningly picturesque Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Staying in a quality Farm House or luxury Country House Hotel, with luggage transfer, vehicle support and all the equipment and accessories you'll need, all you'll have to do is pedal!

You can also hire a qualified guide to take you straight to the heart of best cycling in Bowland with skills coaching and bespoke guiding packages available.

Call 07518 373 007, text 'ca' for call back or visit www.cycle-adventure.co.uk for bookings and more information.

Gisburn Forest Cycleway

Gisburn is the largest forest in Lancashire and is managed by Forest Enterprise. Within the forest there is a network of waymarked forest walks and a cycle trail. These are based on existing forest roads and offer a variety of routes with a cycle network of 16km length. Contact Forest Enterprise for further details on 01229 860010.

North Lancashire Bridleway

The first phase of this ambitious project to develop a circular Bridleway in Bowland is complete, offering 47km of bridleway that cuts through the heart of the Forest of Bowland AONB.

The route travels from Halton on Lune near Lancaster before wending its way up the Roeburndale Valley over to Slaidburn and the Hodder Valley on the old Salter Fell Road, skirting Dunsop Bridge and Whitewell and finally on to Chipping.

Most of this bridleway is accessible by bicycle, however a small section of it beginning at Halton on Lune near Lancaster is not. This bridleway has primarily been developed for horse riders and more work needs to be done to provide cyclist with information on terrain and gradients. The North Lancashire Bridleway is in it’s first phase, and provision for it will be reviewed and updated in due course. We would welcome any feedback from cyclists who use this bridleway at our contact details above.

There is a comprehensive leaflet that includes a map of the route and a list of accommodation providers, to obtain a copy call 01772 534709 or download the North Lancashire Bridleway Leaflet (PDF, 2.5mb) for further details.

Lancashire Cycleway

The Lancashire Cycleway consists of a north and south circular route which meet at the historic town of Whalley, just to the south of the Bowland area. The route has been designed specifically to use minor roads which have low levels of traffic but also to pass through areas of scenic beauty. The Cycleway is well signposted and is also accessible from many railway stations near to the route.

A guidebook to Lancashire Cycleway by Jon Sparks, an acclaimed photographer and writer based in Lancaster, is available from good bookshops and information offices or direct from the publishers. The book is illustrated in full colour - with maps and route profiles - and gives a full description of the route, notes on where to find accommodation and food, and information about places of interest on the way.

Guidebook Publishers: 
Cicerone Press, 2 Police Square, 
Milnthorpe, Cumbria LA7 7PY 
Tel: 01539 562069, Fax: 01539 563417, 
Email: Email Lancashire Cycleway Guidebook Publisher (info@cicerone.co.uk). 
Lancashire Cycleway Guidebook Publisher's website (www.cicerone.co.uk). 
ISBN: 1 85284 384 5 (160 pages)

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