Rosedale Railway

Map: OS Explorer OL26 North York Moors Western Area

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Start point: Car park on Blakey Ridge, just south of Red Lion pub. 

Car parking also available at the top of Rosedale Chimney and starting here makes the ride a slightly better finish as you get more of the uphill out of the way earlier in the ride with fresh legs.

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Route: From the car park head North on the Rosedale Railway track. No navigation required as you just follow the railway around the head of the valley. It is slightly downhill all the way around which is great for all! Towards the end you pass a couple of large, ruined furnaces before a steeper drop on a farm track to the road. A road section here which undulates a bit (one handed pushing is fine for getting smaller legs up these) before a faster drop into Rosedale. This last section is busier with traffic. 

The navigation starts now!

In Rosedale, take the Rosedale Chimney Bank road - turn right by the caravan site and climb steeply up to the pub (Hotel on the map). Turn right past the hotel and follow the gravel track to it's end at Hollins Farm. A steep uphill section follows that likely involves pushing from everyone. It starts off grassy and rideable but as you turn right it gets steeper. You then turn right again on a narrower track that starts to get rocky. At the small quarry there is a seriously steep, but short, section that will leave adults ferrying bikes and kids scrambling up. There is still some climbing to be done on a brilliant piece of single track through the heather. Just keep following the track which gets flatter and more rideable for small legs/wheels. The top section was fun for the Little Chaps who took pleasure in a "proper uphill." You will reach a moorland double track and turn right, heading uphill to Ana Cross (a good lunch/cake/view spot). Continue on the track to cross the Rosedale Road and regain the railway track. This section back to the Blakey Ridge carpark is slightly uphill (a good reason to consider parking at the Rosedale road) and further than you think. The track is good so no technical difficulties, just a long false-flat back to the start.

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Verdict: We made this loop up as a day 2 ride, initially planning to just do the railway bit. As we sped around to the furnaces we decided to continue and make more of a day of the ride. The climbing section to the top of the quarry above Hollins Farm is hard and involved us pushing the bikes but it was worth it for the section at the top - more classic moorland single track.

A longer day than we had intended but the railway makes covering ground so easy, plus the added railway interest (the info boards are good for children), that we didn't really notice our day 2 legs.

Consider getting a TowWhee to help with the uphill railway section and initial climb out of Rosedale. It is hard to do all this pushing one handed!

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