Leeds to Liverpool canal towpath?

[FrothNinja]

What's it like beyond Gargrave - towards Foulridge?

A little late - but better late than never. That section is quite rough and narrow & prone to bogginess in places and smooth and wide in others. On the whole the more remote parts (eg heading west toward East Marston) are more 'exciting'. You should be fine if you go during a period of good weather as when the following was filmed last year

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlaH5yDmp9A&list=PLs1NkSMbl_WZk1J7kD2VnRXU3FbGvrcSV&index=6

 

[Petrichorwheels]

The bit between cononley (you can hop up on to the towpath where cononley lane hits the skipton road) and silsden is poor. Certain amount of mud a couple of weeks ago, which will get worse in winter. Worse than that though is the rough surface, frequent bits of old brick and stone and worse than both steel-like tree roots. Would be quite easy to come off and you could do yourself a serious injury. Progress slow. On my return trip I took the main road.

 

[dlit84]

I rode the stretch couple of years back on a mountain bike, all 127 and a quarter miles in a day.

Had a large bike frame bag for water and a rucksack for supplies. Only made one shop stop on Burnley's straight mile where Tesco's petrol station is conveniently next to the canal. Had slightly slicker tyres on (continental double fighters) as found these gave adequate grip and comfort for tow path but have much less rolling resistance than the usual nobbly mountain bike tyres.

I'd recommend a couple of things for those wanting to do the route, definatly have a bell to let others know your coming. Pick a weekday ensuring the schools aren't on half term or anything so the path is as quiet as possible for you. Pick a day where it perhaps rained a couple of days earlier so the ground is a little bit softer, when tow path is rock hard I find it zaps your energy quite quickly being bumped around so much etc, but only light rain, mud is not your friend here and best to have at least a rear mud guard as whatever the weather water does collect at various points. A day when it's cloudly will mean less walkers venturing out and you can easily stay cool when riding, not sweating like mad in the sun using excessive water etc. Wind commonly goes west to east why most people choose Liverpool to Leeds direction.

There are two tunnels, Gallow and Foulridge, both of which require you to deviate from the towpath, ensure you know where these are and where to go beforehand. Also worth checking if canal and river trust are working anywhere on the canal as parts of the path may be unexpectly blocked and closed.

Is a tough one, not to be underestimated given some of the terrain, some parts are smooth such as Wigan, some parts are literally grass tracks, narrow or have tree roots everywhere but all is rewarding, and fun I regret two things, not taking quite enough food so was running on empty last 20 miles and not taking a light as had more than enough daylight hours for ride so chose not to carry the extra weight but because of a crank issue had to stop numerous times and tighten / align the crank arm causing delays, ended up nearly cycling in the dark near the end, not exactly street lamps or anything on the canal lol, expect the unexpected.

Good luck to anyone going for it, are markers on the whole route so you always know how far to go and canal is home to a lot of wildlife etc. Geese or ducks may suddenly just jump out in front of you, or chase you lol and a lot of low bridges where you might meet other walkers. One not to be a crazy fast time trialist and just enjoy the ride is what I'm saying Best

 

[FrothNinja]

I rode the stretch couple of years back on a mountain bike, all 127 and a quarter miles in a day.

Had a large bike frame bag for water and a rucksack for supplies. Only made one shop stop on Burnley's straight mile where Tesco's petrol station is conveniently next to the canal. Had slightly slicker tyres on (continental double fighters) as found these gave adequate grip and comfort for tow path but have much less rolling resistance than the usual nobbly mountain bike tyres.

I'd recommend a couple of things for those wanting to do the route, definatly have a bell to let others know your coming. Pick a weekday ensuring the schools aren't on half term or anything so the path is as quiet as possible for you. Pick a day where it perhaps rained a couple of days earlier so the ground is a little bit softer, when tow path is rock hard I find it zaps your energy quite quickly being bumped around so much etc, but only light rain, mud is not your friend here and best to have at least a rear mud guard as whatever the weather water does collect at various points. A day when it's cloudly will mean less walkers venturing out and you can easily stay cool when riding, not sweating like mad in the sun using excessive water etc. Wind commonly goes west to east why most people choose Liverpool to Leeds direction.

There are two tunnels, Gallow and Foulridge, both of which require you to deviate from the towpath, ensure you know where these are and where to go beforehand. Also worth checking if canal and river trust are working anywhere on the canal as parts of the path may be unexpectly blocked and closed.

Is a tough one, not to be underestimated given some of the terrain, some parts are smooth such as Wigan, some parts are literally grass tracks, narrow or have tree roots everywhere but all is rewarding, and fun I regret two things, not taking quite enough food so was running on empty last 20 miles and not taking a light as had more than enough daylight hours for ride so chose not to carry the extra weight but because of a crank issue had to stop numerous times and tighten / align the crank arm causing delays, ended up nearly cycling in the dark near the end, not exactly street lamps or anything on the canal lol, expect the unexpected.

Good luck to anyone going for it, are markers on the whole route so you always know how far to go and canal is home to a lot of wildlife etc. Geese or ducks may suddenly just jump out in front of you, or chase you lol and a lot of low bridges where you might meet other walkers. One not to be a crazy fast time trialist and just enjoy the ride is what I'm saying Best

Gannow not Gallow - making the connection in Wigan and the diversion around Gannow were the bits I think are hardest to route find on