Welcome to the Walk Cycle Ride home page.

This site hosts South Pennine walking, cycling, mountain biking and horse riding routes for all ages and abilities, from a quiet stroll along the canal towpath, to a bike ride that will test your endurance and provide a few white knuckle moments.

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Meanwhile, in the fabulous South Pennines, that hidden area of upland between Manchester and Leeds, are a huge number of paths, tracks and trails that provide you with some of the best places in England to walk, cycle, mountain bike and horse ride. There are heather and peat covered moors, craggy rock outcrops and shining Victorian reservoirs on the uplands, while the steep sided valleys have clough woodlands, fields bounded by drystone walls, canals, rivers and the rich built heritage of the industrial revolution. The towns and villages are built of the distinctive gritstone and provide some great locations for shopping, eating, drinking and accommodation. The landscape is there, waiting to be explored, and offers the perfect location for a family adventure holiday or adrenalin filled weekend with friends.

The South Pennines contains the kilometre square with the densest network of public paths in England, and the most access land of anywhere in England outside a National Park. It also boasts the longest continuous uphill road climb (and descent too of course) out of Cragg Vale towards Littleborough. So no shortage of adventures in the countryside for two feet, two wheels or four hooves!

For walkers our beautiful countryside offers something for all who enjoy spending their leisure time walking, whether it's a stroll along one of our canalside paths or an ambitious day hike across the heather moors. You can walk the moors where once the Brontes roamed or explore the wooded Upper Calder Valley where poet laureate Ted Hughes grew up.

Cyclists and mountain bikers are spoiled for choice too: two national cycle routes come our way, winding their way along quiet country lanes and by-ways, whilst there's ample opportunity for off-road adventure on the Pennine moorland bridleways. Try the 47 mile Mary Townley Loop, where accommodation is available for you and your bike along the way. Can you do it in a day? A weekend? A week? The South Pennines is the perfect place to come for your next cycling holiday.

Horse-riders can follow the routes once trodden by packhorse trains, carrying cloth across the Pennine moors. The Pennine Bridleway and the Mary Townley Loop give the opportunity for long distance rides for the fitter horse and rider. Again, accommodation is available for horse and rider, on or near the routes.

If you know a route that is not on the website but you think should be, use the Add a Route button on the right of the page to let us know and we will check it out and add it on, so you can share your discovery with others!

And don't forget our very own South Pennine Walk and Ride Festival between 8th and 23rd September 2012. You can use the link on the right of this page to go to the festival website and see full listings and download details of events from June 2012. And now you can follow us on Facebook and tweet us on Twitter too.