Not been up to Swaledale for ages, I think the last time was on last year's YD300. So with blue skies forecast and most of the BWs being pretty weatherproof we headed up.

Fremington Edge straight from the car is a killer. Still not managed to clean it.


The top of Fremington Edge


There's an easy descent to Hurst then a long drag (the snow from a couple of weeks ago has only recently melted so the track was still soft) leads to one of the nicest descents in the area down to Langthwaite


A steady climb on an old estate track gains the top of another great piece of moorland trail.


This ground is what Phil Clarke calls "nadgery", basically if you want "flow" then go elsewhere, you've got to work for your line picking your way through boulders, potential bog traps and the like.




This lead to the start of one of the fun descents back to the valley floor known as "The Angry Man". Mainly grassy and good lines, the biggest problem is avoiding the occasional rabbit hole


We then headed back via the bridleway alongside the Swale. Unfortunately for mountain biking this has been "upgraded" as part of The Swale Trail so what used to be mildly technical roots and rocks is now bland hard core.

Not a long ride but it packs quite a bit in for 21km.

Good one Bob, I've done all of those trails (many times!), apart from the last descent - is that the BW below Brownsey moor to Low row? - the one time I tried to do this I couldn't find it! Ended up following the footpath / track down to the lower BW at the amusingly named Barf end gate....

No it's further east. From this point http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=399636 ... &A=Y&Z=115 heading SE past Nova Scotia. It's proper moorland type riding as far as the last shot then gets increasingly grassy.

I've not done the one down to Low Row (have done the BW over the moor) or the one from here http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=396329 ... &A=Y&Z=115 down to Gunnerside

Edit: A bit of image searching and I think the above comment is wrong We've ridden up it from Low Row to Smarber, this was three years ago. Suggests that it's not brilliant as a descent. Not ridden the moorland bit from Slades Head down to Brownsey, the one time we rode that we stuck to the vehicle track

Fremington Edge is a good one !

If I remember rightly I’ve cleaned it BUT this included a stop to open the gate...

Great pictures and some great riding

Ahh got you. The second one up out of Gunnerside was on the Swaledale marathon route, I staggered up that climb a number of times in my youth, heading for the appropriately named surrender bridge The first climb on the SM was in fact up Fremington edge - I've been a glutton for punishment from an early age....

For someone who doesn't know the area, but is returning to Muker at some point this year, are the above trails easyish to find on a map?

slarge wrote:For someone who doesn't know the area, but is returning to Muker at some point this year, are the above trails easyish to find on a map?

The first bit we did is part of the YD300 route, the last descent (Angry Man) is slightly tricky to find as there's a lot of tracks on the moor where you need to start the last descent. Stu Price at Dales Bike Centre in Fremington does maps with various loops.

The climb of Fremington Edge starts here http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=404692 ... &A=Y&Z=120
The descent down to Storthwaite hall starts at a BW post next to the track here http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=403424 ... &A=Y&Z=120
The Angry Man traverse and descent starts here http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=399376 ... &A=Y&Z=120 and takes the BW past the house marked Nova Scotia.
The descent into Gunnerside Gill starts here http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=394658 ... &A=Y&Z=120 - this is one of the hardest descents in the Dales, very steep and rocky. When at the bottom take the BW on the east side of the gill to Barf End http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=396035 ... &A=Y&Z=120 there's then another descent via the BW under the words "Lodge Green"
This is the top of The Pipeline Descent http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=402037 ... &A=Y&Z=120, a steep line down an open scree slope, not easy to find from the top of the moor though.
The BW leading down to this point http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=403795 ... &A=Y&Z=115 is fast and generally grassy and you might want to have a look across the road
The drop down from Kisdon to Muker http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=389814 ... &A=Y&Z=120 is steep and fast. A hell of a pull from the other side though.

Aside from the above, there's a lot of tracks on the moors from the old mine workings. It's pretty easy to work out a loop to pull in as much as you want. There's a few BWs on Harkerside that I've not ridden but there's so many paths and tracks there anyway.

Thanks Bob, looks like I should be able to nip out for an hour or two.....

I was up Reeth a few weekends ago with the wife, on the tourers, went up arkengarthdale from grinton, to the Tan Hill inn. hard work for the mrs.


and Bob, I am up on the 13th for the weekend with the lads. my 1st offroad ride since getting the hip done. hopefully it will be ok.

Ah, Fremington Edge - a place firmly etched in our memories, after Stuart (from the Dales Bike centre) took us up there, not long after we'd had a pie and a pint (very nearly saw them again)

None of cleaned it, but we did actually enjoy the ride, as it was so different to what we're used to.

After the trip, I looked it up on the map, and was interested to see that the department for stating the obvious had played a part in it's creation...

Top of Fremington Edge