Gravel Bike Tour - Reivers Trails

Itinerary Details

1. Day 1Arrival – Newcastle-upon-Tyne

   Your meet-up point will be in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Newcastle serves as the most convenient train station for those who wish to arrive by rail and included in the trip price is a late afternoon transfer from the station to your nearby accommodation.  For those arriving by car, you will be able to leave your vehicle in Newcastle (at no additional cost) as you’ll be returning here at the end of the trip.
   
   Over the evening meal in Newcastle, you’ll have the chance to get to know the rest of the group and chat with the guides about the next few days of riding.
   
   

   • Accommodation in Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2. Day 2Transfer to The Sill (Hadrian’s Wall) and ride to Newcastleton in Scotland

   At the start of the Northumberland Reivers Trails trip, the group will transfer to The Sill Discovery Centre on Hadrian’s Wall, where you will have a chance to grab a coffee before setting off on your gravel biking adventure to Scotland. You’ll very quickly get your wheels off-road taking in sections of ancient byway through the Roman landscape and passing milecastles and forts including the Roman Army Museum at Walltown.
   
   After crossing the line of the Roman Wall at Greenhead and the Northumberland-Cumbria Border at Gilsland you'll follow increasingly gravelly backroads and forest tracks through Spadeadam Forest, before carefully negotiating a descent on ancient byways to Bewcastle. On a clear day, you may be treated to views across to the Lake District Fells and the Solway Coast.
   
   At Bewcastle your guides will provide a well-earned picnic lunch, and you’ll have a chance to look around this isolated village whose church, farm, and castle are on the site of a Roman fort. Refreshed and refueled, you’ll cross the English/Scottish border at Kershope Bridge by minor backroads, forest tracks and centuries-old byways. From here you’ll track the border for a mile before heading into the depths of Newcastleton Forest and on for a friendly Liddesdale welcome and overnight stay in Scotland.
   

   • 44.1 miles
   • 3,231.6 ft
     3,231.6 ft
   • Newcastleton Accommodation
   • Breakfast and Lunch
3. Day 3Newcastleton to Bellingham

   Today you are heading back to England. Fueled up with a nutritious Scottish breakfast you’ll be quickly out and onto the forest tracks which make Newcastleton such a draw for many cyclists – It’s one of the Scottish Borders “7 Stanes” mountain bike centres.
   
   After a challenging climb, you'll reach an 1830s stone pillar which marks the border and the highest point on your route at Bloody Bush. The location’s gruesome name is said to stem from the border region’s violent history.
   
   From the Border Ridge, you’ll descend to Kielder Water for a welcome refreshment stop at the support van before riding the Lakeside Trail. It’s not long before you head back up onto the sweeping forest tracks to the ‘Skyspace’ installation near Kielder Observatory, which gives a unique perspective to contemplate the changing skies above, before a fun descent down to Kielder Castle and village for lunch.
   
   In the afternoon, you’ll cross the viaduct to the North Shore of Kielder Water and follow the Lakeside Way, stopping for photos and to take in the fabulous views and art and sculpture installations on your way to the dam. The last leg of the route takes you back into the woods, passing the remains of Dally Castle and the banks of the River North Tyne to Bellingham, where you will spend the next three nights.
   

   • 42.3 miles
   • 3,805.8 ft
     3,805.8 ft
   • Bellingham Accommodation
   • Breakfast and Lunch

   • 

     Art en Route

     Visit the art trail at Kielder Water

4. Day 4Wark Forest and Corsenside Common

   After a short, steep wake-up climb out of Bellingham you’ll soon have gravel below your wheels again, ready to explore some of the less-frequented parts of this vast forest park. Wending your way through local woodland, you’ll come to Stonehaugh – a Forestry Commission village adorned with totem poles and its very own stargazing pavilion! The next part of your journey takes in Henshaw Common areas, providing views south towards Hadrian’s Wall.
   
   With energy levels topped up after a drink and snack near Whygate you’ll head into the main body of Wark Forest, towards the confluence between Chirdon Burn and the River North Tyne to meet the support van for a well-earned picnic lunch.
   
   The afternoon will bring a change of scenery. You’ll climb up little backroads onto Corsenside Common for the classic gravel segment, which descends to the River Rede at West Woodburn. From here it’s back to Bellingham along a mix of byways, farm tracks and minor roads.
   

   • 47.8 miles
   • 3,494.1 ft
     3,494.1 ft
   • Bellingham Accommodation
   • Breakfast and Lunch
5. Day 5Blackburn Common and Kielder Forest Drive

   Today begins with a climb out of the North Tyne valley, gaining just over 200m in 15km. While on roads at first, the surface becomes more broken with grass growing up in the middle of the quiet country lanes, definitely terrain for a gravel bike! The elevation delivers panoramic views before you enter the forest again and say goodbye to the tarmac for some 44km of continuous gravel trails, including the scenic Kielder Forest Drive, to the viewpoint at Blakehope Nick, before descending towards lunch just north of Kielder village.
   
   After lunch you’ll follow the rolling forest tracks above the northern flank of Kielder Water, keeping an eye out for ospreys which have made this forest and lake environment their home since 2008. The trail will take us on lesser-used trails parallel to the Lakeside Way which rode a few days prior, before leaving the tree-lined track to make your way along quiet lanes back to Bellingham.
   
   If there’s time this evening, you could pop down the road for a brewery tour of Bellingham’s First & Last Brewery, whose beers are supposedly inspired by the wild, untamed landscape and starry skies of Northumberland. It would be a shame not to stop by for a cheeky pint or two, to mark your final night in rural Northumberland together.
   

   • 42.9 miles
   • 3,838.6 ft
     3,838.6 ft
   • Bellingham Accommodation
   • Breakfast and Lunch
6. Day 6Bellingham to The Sill (Hadrian’s Wall) & transfer to Newcastle

   This morning you’ll travel west from Bellingham on quiet roads to Donkleywood which sits below the Kielder Dam. The reservoir was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982 and took two years to fill, inundating the sites of a local school and a number of homes and farmsteads.
   
   Saying farewell to the shores of Kielder Water for the final time, you’ll make your way south on the gravel forest roads back into the heart of the forest to Whygate where you’ll meet the support van for a picnic lunch. The final leg of your Borderlands adventure ride will take you across Henshaw Common and back to Hadrian’s Wall from where you’ll transfer back to Newcastle upon Tyne for your final night of the trip and a celebratory get-together.
   

   • 36 miles
   • 2,985.6 ft
     2,985.6 ft
   • Newcastle upon Tyne Accommodation
   • Breakfast and Lunch
7. Day 7Departure – Newcastle-upon-Tyne

   This morning you can take a morning transfer to Newcastle central station or treat yourself to a lie-in and have a more relaxed morning before enjoying breakfast and heading on your way.
   
   Should you have a little more time available Newcastle is a great place to have a wander around and take in the sights and sounds of this lovely city.
   
   

   • Breakfast