Haverthwaite – Spark Bridge – Lowick – Torver – Coniston – Elterwater – ChapelStile – Great Langdale – Little Langdale – Coniston – Brantwood – Haverthwaite

This ride is one which we sometimes do as a car-assist., although it is possible to cycle from home for those who want a big challenge.It starts at a now-disused section of the old A590, opposite Haverthaite Village, and which now serves for a car park.It gives direct access to the lanes north of the A590 and briefly uses the A595 to get onto the A5084 Torver road.This road is elevated above Coniston Water, with a backdrop of Grizedale Forest.

Three miles along the A593 brings us to Coniston Village for a coffee stop.Continuing towards Ambleside, a left turn off the A593 gains a narrow lane to Elterwater and on to Chapel Stile.The Langdale Pikes loom large to the right as we head up the valley to the two Dungeon Ghyll pubs.Here we turn left up the very steep climb to the pass between Little and Great Langdales.A picnic lunch is enjoyed on the shores of Blea Tarn before we take the equally steep descent down into Little Langdale, then down the valley to rejoin the main valley road at Skelwith Bridge.Quiet lanes lead over to the Coniston-Hawkshead road and we now take the east shore of Coniston Water with amazing views across to the Coniston massif. Ruskin’s Brantwood is popular for afternoon tea followed by a lovely 10 mile ride along this less-trafficked road through the lakeside woodland back to Haverthwaite.

CTC Lancaster and South Lakes covers all the LA postcodes and the majority of our members live in the Lancaster area.  Most rides start from Lancaster and are 40-70 miles, so we can only access a large part of the southern Lake District using car-assist. As well as the Lake District, we are lucky to have the 3 Peaks area of the Yorkshire Dales and the Howgills within striking distance.  Many of our rides head south, into the Forest of Bowland AONB or onto the Fylde, but these are not LA postcodes. A very popular area for shorter rides is the Arnside/Silverdale AONB.