Weekender: Spurn Point – sand and sea by bike
Weekender: Spurn Point – sand and sea by bike
Route name: Spurn, Sea and Sand. Start/finish: Spurn Discovery Centre, Spurn Road, Kilnsea, Hull HU12 0UH, TA 419 149. Maps: OS Landranger 113 or OS Explorer 292. Ride length: 5.75km/3.5miles to Spurn, plus some meandering and exploring around the dunes. Approx 11km/7miles round trip excluding exploring. Climbing: Virtually flat, maybe 10m of elevation change. Bike type: A fat bike would be perfect. A mountain bike or gravel bike with wide tyres. Be sure to take a puncture repair kit and pump as some of the plants are thorny. Ride level: Regular to experienced, depending on the bike and tolerance for pushing!
Spurn Point is an otherworldly landscape off the coast of East Yorkshire. This tidal island offers some challenging cycling, as Hannah Dobson of Singletrack magazine found out
Spurn Point is a sandy peninsula and nature reserve operated by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. It’s also possibly one of the weirdest places you can go for a bike ride.
Jutting out into the sea on the fringes of East Yorkshire, it’s a constantly changing landscape where erosion of time and tide is immediately apparent. A few times a year, the end of the peninsula becomes an island, as the high tide washes over the sandy banks.
The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust publishes a list of the days and times to avoid crossing. Check before you go! And be aware that in particularly bad weather the reserve may be closed.
On this island you’ll find military remains, a lighthouse, lifeboat station and network of trails to explore. With the feeling of a lost land that’s barely clinging on to existence, it’s a great place to feel like you’ve escaped from the world. Keep your eyes peeled as you ride - the nature reserve hosts a seasonally changing array of birds, as well as deer, seals and even dolphins off the coast.
Although the ride is flat, there is a 1km stretch of sand along the beach and patches of drifted sand on the paved sections. Your bike may not love you for this salty outing, but imagine you’re part of a Rough Stuff Fellowship adventure if it all gets too tricky and you have to push a bit.
The easiest bike to ride here would be a fat bike. If you’re a confident off-road rider, you’ll likely manage to ride most of it even on a gravel bike. If you don’t mind the salt and sand, an electric mountain bike (or even electric trike) would help you keep momentum in the softer patches.
Allow at least three hours if you’ll manage to ride most of it, more if you’ll be pushing. The sand saps your energy and momentum, so expect to come back feeling fairly tired, despite the modest distance and elevation. If the weather is good, take a picnic and enjoy exploring the island.
1 Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Discovery Centre
With a solid selection of cakes, sandwiches and drinks, this is the place to fuel up if you need it. It’s also the last chance to use the loo for a while. Note that there are no accessible toilets available on Spurn Island (although there are some standard loos available).
The building has some interesting architectural features – like nestboxes built into the walls – and there’s a sheltered amphitheatre outside that makes it easy to sit outside and keep an eye on your bikes if you want to. You’ll be coming back here later, though, so if you’re struggling to choose between two kinds of cake, worry not.
2 Through the gate
Once you’ve pedalled just a short distance along the road from the Discovery Centre, you reach a gate. You might find there’s a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Unimog parked here – they run wildlife safaris along the peninsula should you want to go for a different sort of ride. This gate marks the start of the ‘no dogs’ zone, to protect the wildlife.
3 Follow the remains of the road
There’s a brief section of road, and depending on the wind it may have a layer of sand over it. It disappears into the beach, with roped-off sections protecting the dunes to the right. Head left to the shoreline for easier riding or pushing.
4 Dodge the surf
For around 1km you’re going to follow the beach. The easiest riding is on the hard wet sand, so if you’ve got the skills, enjoy playing chicken with the sea. Watch the waves with one eye while trying to judge where the break will finish. Inevitably a big one will have you pedalling through foam.
5 Sunken remains
After around 1km you’ll see the remains of wooden posts, groynes and concrete constructions scattered along the beach. Admire the force of time and tide, and look to the right here to pick up the road as it escapes from the clutches of the sea.
6 High tide shelter
On your left you’ll see a small shelter like a bus stop. If you get caught out by the tide, this is the spot to wait it out. As the path continues you’ll find that it narrows in places and gets buried under sand in others. Watch out for roped-off sections where the sea has claimed parts of the built path.
Don’t be tempted to touch the webs you’ll spot in the bushes – these belong to Brown-Tail moth caterpillars which have itchy, irritating spines. There are many different plants along the way here – it’s worth cycling slowly and taking in the different colours, shapes and textures of the plants that cling to life in this salty environment.
7 The lighthouse
For a small fee, when it’s open you can go up the lighthouse and see the museum displays inside. It also has a small selection of snacks for sale. Look out for the giant wire butterfly sculpture just beside it.
8 Spurn
Spurn consists of a cluster of RNLI buildings, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust buildings (including some old but functional toilets) and radar tower. There are also various military remains. It’s a place of great weathered textures - and many hazard signs! There are some bike racks here if you want to lock up your bike and continue by foot.
Beyond the buildings there is a network of small paths cut through the undergrowth. There are marked routes through with different themes – wildlife, maritime history, and military defences. You can ride your bike along them if you want, though the going is on the mountain biking side of technicality, with patches of soft sand.
There’s lots to explore. Enjoy watching the huge ships pass the point as they head to and from the ports on the Humber, and take in the varied textures and colours of the many plants that cling to the sandy soils.
9 Signpost to the world
Be sure to make it to the signpost pointing out distances to far-flung places across the world. Leave your bike here and head down a short flight of steps and out onto the sand dunes and beach. If you’re lucky you might well spot a seal - stay a respectful distance away so as not to disturb them.
Now it’s time to retrace your steps back the way you came – hopefully in time for cake at the Discovery Centre. Remember, if you’ve misjudged the high tide, do not attempt to cross back to the mainland - wait it out at the shelter. The currents are strong and hazardous.
Remember when you get home – or as soon as you can locate fresh water – to give your bike a thorough rinse off. Your spoke nipples are likely to be particularly vulnerable to the salt, so give them a rinse as soon as you can.
