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| Ennerdale YHA |
For todays ride we started at Bowness Knott Car Park and I would recommend driving in via Ennerdale Bridge. There is also a car park near Ennerdale Bridge and then you could ride the bridleway around the shore of Ennerdale Water and then pick up this route.
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| Interpretation board at Bowness Knott Car Park. Lovely to see all the info for different users |
From Bowness Knott Car park head east up the Ennerdale valley along the main track until you get to the Irish Bridge. Here you can either go over the Irish bridge and ride up the Southern side of the valley or carry on up the Northern side. We decided to keep on the Northern side, you will then pass Ennerdale YHA. Here you can buy snacks and drinks on a help your self honesty box basis. Once at Ennerdale YHA you will see a large towering mountain ahead, this is Pillar and the views from this point on are really special. I have ridden Ennerdale on a sunny summers day and in strong winds and rain at times (from Storm Babet 2023!) and what ever the weather the valley does not disappoint. The day of the ride in October 2023 we were not sure how far we were going to get and we all kept checking everyone was ok to carry on in the weather. There were some points when the horses and riders both had to lean into the wind to move forward! We carried on up the Northern side of the valley and made it to Black Sail YHA, which is about 6 miles up the valley.
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| Looking out through Black Sail door |
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Black Sail is by far my favourite Youth Hostel and having stayed there before I new where the kitchen was and happily offered to make everyone a well earned cup of tea. Black Sail is really a mountain hut that can become a bit of a hub for fellow adventurers. On the day of the ride there were some cyclists also having a brew and the Wild Ennerdale team were having their lunch. I think they were a little surprised to see four horse riders on such an inclement weather day, so I boldly went in and said hello and asked if by chance was the kettle on. To my surprise and thanks one of the cyclists offer to put the kettle back on for us (kettle on gas hob as Black Sail is off-grid). I paid for the teas in the honestly box and handed out the mugs to Liz, Anna and Bridget, and my goodness it was a very much needed mug of joy! With the weather still blowing a gale we did not hang around, but thanks must also be passed the to Wild Ennerdale team member who kindly took our photo.
Warmed up by our brew we headed back down the valley. Due to the weather we decided not to risk the ford near Black Sail to cross to the Southern side of the valley and headed back down the the track we came up on until we reached Middle Bridge (about half way down the valley). Here we crossed Middle Bridge to the Southern side. This side of the valley has a more woodland feel and again has lovely views over the river and surrounding fells. Along the route there are a couple of bridges to cross and you eventually return to the the Northern side of the valley via the Irish Bridge and then back down to Bowness Knott Car Park. In all we did 13 miles and even though the weather was challenging at times it was a fantastic day out and I would defiantly say we had an adventure!
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| Middle Bridge |
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| The Irish Bridge |
Things to Note
Parking - Bowness Knott Car Park, CA23 3AX - I would recommend driving in via Ennerdale Bridge. There is also a car park near Ennerdale Bridge and then you could ride the bridleway around the shore of Ennerdale Water and then pick up this route.
Tracks and routes - All of this route is on good forestry tracks (which is a mix of bridleways and permissive routes), so an ideal winter/bad weather ride. Very good for 4x4 wheel chair users.
Length of Ride - We did 13 miles, but the route can be made longer by taking in more of the tracks or starting from Ennerdale Bridge. The route can be made shorter by doing the loop up to Middle Bridge about half way up the valley (riding up the North side of the river, crossing via Middle Bridge and return on the South side of the river).
There is a ford (very doable in good weather) at the Eastern end of the valley near Black Sail. **Edit June 2024 the main gate is locked near this ford (OS grid ref NY 19118 12464) meaning some may find it is difficult to use this route by horse or 4x4 wheelchair. There is a narrow pedestrian gate here, meaning it is a real squeeze to get through, but most would be able to get though if you dismount and lead. As with all ford you need to check the river levels if your planning to go that way before using this crossing. If your on the Southern side of the valley and you do not want to cross the ford there is a path on the southern side of river that links into the bridleway further up the valley and then you can use the bridleway bridge to cross the river.
Please note the bridleway over Scarth Gap Pass to Buttermere is very challenging and would grade it as fell pony/black route in mountain bike grading. Those who I know that have taken this route with a horse say they would not ever do it again and therefore it is not recommended. Black Sail Pass to Wasdale is similar but maybe more doable, but it would still have a fell pony/black mountain bike grading.
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