Bikepacking is a wonderfully exhilarating way to explore the outdoors. At its heart is a fusion of mountain biking and lightweight camping – allowing you to set off on self-supported, overnight forays into Britain’s beautiful wild spaces. Using a vast network of bridleways, forest trails or ancient byways, you can embark on adventures big or small, from local loops to epic journeys.
Of course you can stay at proper campsites if your tent is light enough to mount on your bike – and camping barns, pubs, hostels, bunkhouses and bothies all make ideal overnight accommodation – but in my opinion the biggest rewards are to be found wild camping along the way. There are few things more memorable than making your camp for the night on a mountain plateau or by a lake shore, or slinging your hammock between trees at the edge of a silent forest. And there’s something quite special about knowing you are the only soul for miles, lying beneath the brightest of stars, with breathtaking views the last and first things you’ll see.
All you really need is a sleeping bag and mat, waterproof bivvy bag and a tarp and guy ropes in case of inclement weather, with a lightweight stove and some simple food to turn a mountain bike ride into a memorable adventure.
Coastal areas below the high tide mark, other waterways and the high hills (above 450m) offer great opportunities for legal wild camping. Anywhere else outside of Scotland and Dartmoor you should ask permission to camp, or if that's not possible be as inconspicuous as you can, find a spot away from houses or roads, arrive late, leave early and leave no trace.
If you go camping, however infrequently, you can probably improvise a bikepacking setup without much outlay at all – any off-road-worthy bike will do, and even most hybrids can tackle firmer bridleways and towpaths. Small sacks or even bin bags can be lashed to your bike – under the bars or saddle and inside the main frame triangle – using bungee cords, velcro straps or even larger zip ties.
Later on you might want to consider dedicated frame bags by the likes of Apidura, Alpkit and Wildcat Gear – they fit really snugly to the bike, have loads of room and mounting options and are waterproof too. And if you’re bitten by the bikepacking bug (believe me, it's easily done) there are a wealth of specifically designed off-road adventure and fat bikes, designed to haul a rider and kit comfortably over long distances. But truth be told, the best bike for bikepacking is the one you already own, and with some simple kit, a little determination and an adventurous spirit, your adventures can know no bounds.
Top five bikepacking adventure rides
Bikepacking the parks and green spaces of south London
Not many people know but an almost uninterrupted 30km off-road route snakes its way through south London, barely encountering tarmac as it leaves the 'big smoke' behind. Starting at Kew Gardens station it winds its way south between the Thames and Old Deer Park before an 'S' shaped trail takes in the leafy expanse of Richmond Park, Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common. Here Caesar's Camp offers a wonderful opportunity for your own urban 'wild' camp; so too do the wooded banks of the Thames near Ham, when you return to the river after following the bridle paths of Richmond Park's southern fringes. Finally your route striking out into Bushy Park, like Richmond inhabited by scores of red deer, though the residents of this smaller Royal Park are far less skittish than those hiding in Richmond's tall grasses. At Hampton station you'll be left reflecting on how beautiful these precious pockets of south London green space are when crossed in their entirety.
Bikepacking in Lustleigh, Dartmoor
The one place outside Scotland where it is legal to wild camp, you'll be spoilt for choice as to where to lay your bivvy for the night. My favourite Dartmoor ride (though its countless tracks make for almost limitless variations) is a 55km journey around its northeast edge from Chagford Common, as wild feeling a spot as you could hope to find. A desolate moorland trail over Headland Warren skirts past civilisation at Moretonhampstead before heading to the leafy embrace of the River Bovey. The trail makes an about-turn at the village of Dunsford and heads for the heart of the moor again, but not before taking in some wonderfully rocky singletrack at Lustleigh and bounding on to tackle the foreboding sounding Grimspound. It’s a challenging ride in terms of distance and terrain, but it's an immensely satisfying one.
Bikepacking on the Malvern Hills
One of my most memorable wild camps lies atop the huge crest of granite and igneous rock at the pinnacle of the Malvern range. Worcestershire Beacon, at 425m, harbours a small concave rock shelter – a secret cave almost – from which you can surely see most of the 15 counties allegedly visible from the summit. The riding along its wealth of dusty bridle paths is hugely enjoyable and challenging, the route off its foothills towards Old Storridge Common to the northwest more sedate and pleasurable. Yet despite over 45km of wonderfully varied riding it's the idyllic wild camp that steals the show – the quality of light up here is phenomenal, only briefly obscured by wisps of cloud drifting off the beacons. The sounds of distant civilisation drifting up from Great and West Malvern and the sun setting over the vast patchwork carpet of Worcestershire's arable land and the distant Welsh hills combines to create a unique adventure ride that lingers long in the memory.
Bikepacking on Snowdonia
The highest ridable summit in Britain may seem like a lofty ambition for most bikepackers, but the Rangers Path that leads to the summit station makes this goal surprisingly achievable. It's arduous, of course, but the rewards far outway the effort. The views from 1085m up over Snowdonia's sublime landscape are truly breathtaking; as is the descent. You need to bear in mind the May-September ban on bikes on the mountain (between 10am-5pm), but a summer evening ascent, wild camp on the upper slopes and a dawn slalom off the mountain mean you can tackle Snowdon all year round. With some wonderful and thankfully flatter riding along the mountain railway stations of Beddgelert and Nantmor (particularly the waymarked Lon Gwyrfai trail) you can tailor your trail to suit your ability. But if you have it in your legs to reach the summit you won't regret reaching for the sky. If anything the ban is a blessing – it encourages you to scale Snowdon at a time when everyone else is coming off the mountain; when you reach the second highest place in the whole of the UK, you will end up having it all to yourself.
Bikepacking on Mull, Western Isles
I have never felt so beautifully isolated as I did spending a night in the Tomsleibhe bothy deep in the heart of Mull's Glenforsa estate. Ferries can deliver your to the ports of Craignure or Tobermory, the island's colourful capital. From the latter a wild, forgotten trail leads you past the rugged northern coastline at Ardmore and the heavily wooded banks of Loch Frisa in the midst of Salen Forest until at last the Glenforsa estate road beckons you along the banks of the fast-flowing River Forsa to the wildest of dwellings. Beneath the formidable glare of Beinn Talaidh and at least 7km from the nearest dwelling, Tomsleibhe is a truly remote place to spend the night, but all the more beautiful for it. With working fireplaces in two of its three rooms it offers welcome respite from the inhospitable Western Isles weather. And when night falls there's such utter silence too – broken only by the occasion hoot of an owl or bark of a stag. A glimpse of a golden eagle perfected my experience in this otherworldly idyll.
Bikepacking: Mountain Bike Camping Adventures on the Wild Trails of Britain by Laurence McJannet (£16.99, Wild Things Publishing) is available from all good bookshops.
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