Route Overview
| Distance | 19.57 miles |
|---|---|
| Surface | The route is tarred throughout, though can be a bit bumpy in places. |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Child-Friendliness | ✅ Very child-friendly |
| Suitable Bikes | Anything (including trikes) |
| Barriers | There are no barriers at all along this route. |
| Café / Food | Rockets & Rascals on the Barbican, The Larder in Yelverton and Molly's Kitchen in Tavistock are all good options. |
| Train Access | The nearest train station is Plymouth. There are no other train stations along, or near the route. |
| Parking | There's ample parking at the Coypool Park & Ride, or you can park in a car park on the Barbican. |
Drake’s Trail starts in Plymouth and at first mostly follows the course of the river Plym, eventually leading to Clearbrook, which is a village on the edge of Dartmoor. From Clearbrook, Drake’s Trail leads through Yelverton, on to the town of Tavistock, 19 miles later.
Most of the route is built on a disused railway line, so it might surprise you to discover there are some steep climbs in places. Surprisingly, there’s no actual official starting point to Drake’s Trail, so I started this route by the Barbican swing bridge. Please remember to dismount and walk your bike across the bridge?
The Barbican is vibrant, and offers many cafés, pubs and restaurants, as well as a wide array of different shops. The area is also full of history, and it is of course where the Pilgrim Fathers last boarded the Mayflower, before sailing to North America.
The route forms part of Sustrans’ NCN 27 route (National Cycle Network) and also part of the EuroVelo Route 1. There is an actual Drake’s Trail website, but it’s vastly out of date, and seems to do it’s level best to pretend the cycling route is actually only a spine for a bunch of walking routes.
Drake’s Trail cycle route overall rating:
(Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of)
Surface on Drake’s Trail
The surface is sealed throughout, making this an all-weather route. However, the surface quality varies. Along the Plym Valley, tree roots have grown underneath the tar, to create “speed bumps”. Also, the newish tar between Horrabridge and Tavistock is already breaking up in places.
Refreshments
While you will have plenty of choices for refreshments stops on the Plymouth Barbican, as well as more options in Yelverton and Tavistock, in between there’s practically nothing.
On the barbican, great coffee can be had at Rockets & Rascals. There’s often a coffee van at Plym Bridge, and you’ll be cycling right past the Skylark pub, in Clearbrook.
In Yelverton, The Larder makes a decent coffee, though they have no indoor seating (but Scarlet’s, right next door, offers indoor seating).
In Tavistock, coffee from Molly’s Kitchen is decent, while that of Drake’s Coffee House isn’t.
Bikes
You can take any bike on this route, including cargo bikes, and trikes.
Toilets
There are toilets on the Barbican, by Coypool Park & Ride (you’ll be cycling past it) and then again at the Skylark, in Clearbrook. Also in Yelverton, and then again in Tavistock.
Hilliness
Most of the route follows an old railway line, and trains don’t like steep gradients. However, from Plym Bridge until Horrabridge, the route is virtually constantly uphill. Where the route deviates from the old railway, by Horrabridge, there’s a steep, 13% incline on the way back.
Safety from traffic
While most of the route is traffic-free, not all of it is. However, the parts that are on-road are on usually very quiet lanes.
Points of Interest
While there’s a “Mayflower Steps” monument, those aren’t actually the real steps. Inside the Admiral McBride pub, some remnants of the original steps now form the entrance to the ladies’ toilets.
At Plym Bridge, there’s rich railway and industrial heritage. Below Cann viaduct are the remains of the old waterwheel that drove much of the activity at the quarry, and the remains of an old engine house, used to haul slate uphill, to be loaded on railway wagons.
By Yelverton, the route skirts the old RAF Harrowbeer fighter airbase.
Routes in Devon
- Dart Valley Cycleway
- Exmouth to Budleigh Salterton
- The Exe Estuary cycle route to Exmouth
- Nun’s Cross Trail cycle route
- Princetown Railway traffic-free cycle route
- Saltram Loop traffic-free cycle route
- DayCycle – Tarka Trail
- Family-friendly Cycling On The Granite Way
- DayCycle – A Redlake adventure
- DayCycle – Grand Western Canal
- DayCycle – Stover Trail & Wray Valley Trail
- DayCycle – Dawlish to Exeter St Davids
- Family-friendly Cycling on Drake’s Trail
Barriers
There are none of those awful A-frame barriers along the route. However, there are several sets of “air-lock” type gates, where you have to pass through two sets of gates.
Those gates are there to prevent animals from straying onto fast roads, like the A386, so take care to close them behind you.
If you find them open, close them after.
Cyclists who cannot dismount may struggle with these gates.
Cycle Hire
You can hire bicycles at Plymouth Bike Hire, at Coypool, and there are also Beryl Bikes in Plymouth.
Child friendliness
Almost all of the route is great for even younger children. However, I do suggest you read my guide on making cycling with kids fun and safe.
Social safety
Especially out-of-season, early in the morning, and late in the evening, parts of the route can be very deserted.
During summer, especially over weekends, the route can be extremely busy – so much so that it becomes difficult to cycle at anything more than a walking pace, between Coypool and Plym Bridge.
Weather forecast for Drake’s Trail
What Drake’s Trail looks like
The video below shows the entire route, and plays back at four times the speed. When I cycled the route for the video, the Barbican swing bridge was closed for repairs. As a result, I cycled around Sutton Harbour, back to the other side of the swing bridge. Also, the route was closed in Tavistock, by the Morrison’s, and I had to take a tiny diversion.
Getting to Drake’s Trail
The route as shown on the map below starts on the Plymouth Barbican. However, you can easily cycle from Plymouth train station to the Barbican, mostly traffic-free, so you can easily get to the start car-free, by taking your bike on the train. As ever, read my Bikes On Trains guide for useful and helpful tips for taking your bike on the train.
Parking near Drake’s Trail
If driving, it’s possible to park on the Barbican, in Elphinstone Car Park, but you’ll probably be better off parking at Coypool Park & Ride, which is free. You also have the option of parking at Plym Bridge, but bear in mind that’s popular, and fills up fast.
More Routes
To find more routes, click this link.
DayCycle
DayCycle routes are routes that can can easily be cycled by most people in a day, or part of a day. Do have a look at all the other DayCycle routes available on WillCycle.
Drake’s Trail interactive map
You can download the GPX file from the map below, simply by clicking the GPX button. Hovering over the elevation profile will show the elevation for that point along the route, in both metres and feet. It will also show the gradient.
And finally…
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