It's pretty good all the way, ie good tarmac surface. You climb up off the cycle trail and then head into the village down the lane at the Lydford end. Fine for your tyres I would have thought.
Did it with one of my sprogs a couple of years back, remember it being the standard repurposed rail line tarmac you see in a few places so pretty good going. We ran out of steam at Lydford and had an unplanned stop off to walk through the NT property round the gorge and can thoroughly recommend, lovely spot - though the NT entry price was fairly eye watering! Also there was a great cream tea just near where you pop off the granite way. HTH : )
Yes, you can ride it on a road bike with road tyres. It’s a well surfaced, old railway line created as a dedicated cycle trail (and it’s part of the great Devon Coast to Coast cycle route) and is popular.
There is a small (200m?) section of gravel around the Bridestowe or Sourton area. I’ve seen cyclists on road bikes ride over that gravel but a friend of mine walked it because she was worried about getting a puncture.
It’s 9 miles from the start at Okey station to Lydford.
Also, if you’re in this area and want something similar, the Tarka Trail ride from Great Torrington to Barnstaple (just under 15 miles one way) is another dedicated and popular cycling trail along an old railway which I’ve seen lots of road bikes on.
Great Torrington is about a 45 minute drive north of Okey.
..and 45 minutes further on down the A30 is Bodmin from where you can pick up the 17 mile or so Camel Trail, another repurposed old railway line that has mostly been resurfaced fairly recently.
Thanks for that. BTW, the solution to NT charges is to be a member. You get in free everywhere, including car parks of which the Lakes has many (don’t kn about elsewhere)
Try to have enough time to have a good look around Okey Railway Station, which is where the trail leaves from. Its all done and open now, and it looks an absolute picture! Cafe is great.
The trip to it on the train from Exeter is silly cheap and so interesting. Not sure if you can take bikes on it, or need to prebook, but that would make a really good day out with the cycle to Lydford too?
It was good. Started from Lydford end. Gets rather less scenic towards Okehampton, but the revived station was very pleasing. It’s a bit of a blast from the past. The cafe is called the Bulleid Buffet which refers to the Southern Railway designer of the very unusual Pacific steam locos (West Country and Merchant Navy Classes, IIRC) which boasted an unusual streamlining and had a unique driving wheel design which the buffet uses in its logo. And everything which didn’t move got repainted in Southern Railway Green. The Southern Railway line from Okehampton to Exeter, which used to continue via Tavistock to Plymouth to compete with the GWR line along the South Devon coast was closed soon after the Beeching Axe in the ‘60s but about 2 years ago was reopened and boasts about a quarter million passenger journeys last year. Enthusiasts are hoping to extend the route to Tavistock, but this would conflict with the cycle route. The pre-Beeching line also linked up with branch lines to several coastal resorts like Bude and Padstow, so it was possible to get on the Atlantic Coast Express at Waterloo Station and get to your resort of choice with just a change (I imagine) for the last few miles. If you’re interested in railways it makes an fascinating bit of history.
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