Summary
CARTMEL via GRANGE and back via CARTMEL FELL, UNDERBARROW, SIZERGH and NATLAND39 miles (62 km) 1,940' climb (591m) Grade - easy to Grange, hard after.
An undulating second half after a long flat start, with a good variety of scenery. Map OS 97 (Kendal)
Start - Kendal Leisure Centre, Burton Rd, Kendal, LA9 7HX
Map
To view elevation details please use this link and select "Elevation Graph" from the top left hand side corner of the map.
http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=475778
http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=475778
Description
Continue through Natland to Sedgwick, where turn left (sign Hincaster/ Milnthorpe) after the canal bridge overhead. Turn right at the end of this short lane, and left over the nearby river bridge, and immediately left past the bridge (cul de sac sign) .
Follow the lane and then the footpath under the big overhead road. Use the ramp to push your bike up the 23 steps and continue on to the dual carriageway, where bear left immediately (sign A6/ Levens Hall) and down to the A6.
Turn right at the bottom (sign Barrow) and quickly bear left (Barrow). In 250 yds/m turn left into a little lane (cul de sac/ Sampool Park) and continue on. In a mile go right onto a (unsigned) tarmac lane . At the end there is a short footpath to where you need to (carefully) cross the dual carriageway via the central reservation (unsigned) and towards the car showroom.
Here you go left, joining National Cycle Network route 70 (from Wear to Walney), and you will follow this for 10 miles (16 km) all the way to Cartmel. The Route 70 signs are clear and useful.
Go past the pub, then bear right (70) immediately after the pub car park onto the off-road path, but take great care on a small chicane in 100 yds/ m with poor visibility. The path soon joins the old and now quiet main road, which is followed on for 2+ miles (4 km) to the Derby Arms pub (shop/ food next door) at Witherslack where go left (Ulpha/ 70) and in 100 yds/m right (70) to the traffic light controlled road underpass, going left at the far side onto the country lane.
The lane continues for 2 miles, turns right at the end T (70), and in 600 yds/m bears left (70) onto a short narrow lane, quickly bearing left again onto a larger road. Carry on for a further 2 miles (3 km) to join left the busy main road into Grange.
Continue to the town centre and beyond by going left at the roundabout (70), uphill through the centre (quite narrow and steep), right at the roundabout (70), and then left in 100 yds/m (70). This is where most shops are. Beyond the shops the route joins the main road, bearing right.
Should you wish to avoid town roads, bike along the pleasant promenade on the seaward side of the railway – coming on by the tunnel by the railway car park and off via the new footbridge over the railway c 1 mile (1+ km) on to rejoin the route, going left.
After c ½ mile (1 km) turn right (Cartmel/ 70) for a steep climb and easier descent to Cartmel in 2 miles, where you part company with Route 70.
Turn right onto the major road (Cartmel Priory sign) and continue on for 2 ½ miles (4 km). ¼ mile (½ km) after passing a church turn right (sign Barber Green), straight on soon at the unsigned crossroads to Ayside.
Here go right (dead end sign) and the tarmac soon becomes gravel alongside the dual carriageway A590, to an underpass beneath it and then to the old road.
Go right, and in 100 yds/m hard left back on yourself (both unsigned) and then up the steep ascent of this gated road to join the public road.
There follows a fast 2 mile (3+ km) descent, before going left at a scissor crossroads (Bowness), and then right after a few minutes at the T junction down into Bowland Bridge (pub, shop/ food).
Beyond Bowland Bridge, take the second right in ¾ mile (1+ km) – unsigned, 500 yds/m after the first, after a left- hand bend with some farm buildings on your right. Take care, as visibility for drivers coming up behind you when you are doing the turn will be limited, so move out well before if possible.
Go right when the A5074 main road is shortly reached, and soon turn left at a crossroads (sign Unsuitable for HGVs) and follow the narrow lane past Dove Nest and up. At the T junction turn left and immediately right on to the main road (Kendal) and proceed to Underbarrow in 1 ½ miles (2+ km), turning right by the pub (Levens/ Milnthorpe)
In a mile (2 km) you reach Brigsteer, where bear right at the bottom of the hill onto a narrow unsigned lane (width restriction sign, and opposite village name sign) immediately after passing a lane on the right to Lyth.
Continue straight ahead after a short sharp rise to quickly join, going right, a larger road.
For the next couple of miles this climbs gradually through a wood and then flattens, and at a scissor crossroads turn left onto Sizergh Fell Road (Sizergh/ Kendal).
At the nearby top, go left. This is now NCN 70, and again follow these signs for now.
In ½ + mile (1 km) NCN 70 goes left halfway down a steep 14% descent, soon coming out onto a wide road by the entrance to the National Trust Sizergh Castle. In addition to the castle and cafe there is also a pub and another cafe nearby.
From here again follow the 70 signs to pass under the road overhead, right at the T down by the river and left at the main road to cross the river and soon into Sedgwick. Here you go straight on (Kendal sign), where 70 goes right.
In nearby Natland NCN 6 has now joined, and a mile further on (2 km) at the start of Kendal (Clarks warehouse on left) take the NCN 6 signs onto the cycleway, which passes through a wood, and then soon up and over the busy A65 (pedestrian refuge), dropping down and in 200 yds/m arriving back at the Leisure Centre. To stay on tarmac simply continue, taking the 3rd right (Rinkfield) back to the Leisure Centre.
