Lake District Loop - any suggestions please..

[gmehje]

Hi all,
I'm intending to have 4/5/6hrs free from early Saturday morning (one weeks time).
I'll be staying near Newby Bridge and would like to hit some of the epic climbs. I'm reasonably fit (47yrs old) - but we will let the hills be the judge of that!
Any suggestions? I've done some google searches but really not sure what the best routes are. Any local knowledge would be priceless please.
Also I'll be on my own - am I mad to do the Kakes solo?
Many thanks in advance for any help it is greatly appreciated.

 

[andrew_s]

Newby Bridge - Skelwith Bridge - Wrynose - Hardknott - Eskdale Green (nearly) - Ulpha - Hall Dunnerdale - Broughton Mills - Torver - Lowick Bridge - Newby Bridge would be about 50-odd miles, if you can get the 6 hours. You can also cut it short by going straight down to Hall Dunnerdale after Wrynose, or by driving to Hawkshead and starting from there.

If you drive to the start, any two of Honister, Newlands and Whinlatter makes a fairly short loop, but to get all 3 you've got to do one twice.
The hardest 3-pass ride would be to park in Borrowdale and do Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, then back over Honister to the car.
The easiest would be to park at Buttermere and do Whinlatter, Newlands, Honister, and back over Newlands.
(Whinlatter is a long drag from Lowick, Newlands is a long drag from the Keswick side, Honister is steep both sides).

Don't forget that driving time comes out of riding time, presumably.

There's no nice round trip for Kirkstone - it's either turn round and come back over, or back on the main road over Dunmail Raise.

 

[gmehje]

Many thanks for the response.
That's fantastic details. I will look into all of those. Many thanks again