Hornsea Rail Trail Traffic-free Cycle Route

Hornsea Rail Trail Cycle Route Overall Rating: ⭐⭐

The Hornsea Rail Trail links the centre of Hull with Hornsea, 15 miles further along a disused rail trail. Just over half of the route is tarred, with the remainder quite decent compacted gravel. This trail forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail, and is signed as National Cycle Network route 65 (NCN 65). Though traffic-free, it crosses the busy A165. Do note that the traffic-free part only starts from Damson Lane South – if starting from the city centre, you will be cycling on on-road, painted cycle lanes, and on quiet roads. The total length and the map below shows the route from the Hull train station.

Once you get to Hornsea, there are some on-road sections to contend with, and do pay attention to the No Cycling signs along the promenade.

Surface

The surface is tarred slightly over half the total distance, but the tar is very bumpy in places because of tree roots. The unsealed part is mostly compacted gravel, but in winter it can get muddy in places.

Bikes

The Hornsea Rail Trail is better suited to bicycles with thicker tyres, but it’s possible to ride it on skinny road bike wheels.

Toilets

There are toilets at the station, as well as at some pubs along the way, and at the end of the route in Hornsea. As expected with a rail trail, the route is very flat.

Points of Interest

Look out for the Hornsea Market, for some local produce. Along the way, there are the South and Sigglesthorne Station local nature reserves.

Routes in Yorkshire

Barriers

Unfortunately, at the Hull end, there are several A-frame barriers, and some of them are quite tight to get through.

Ratings

Safety: ⭐⭐
Hilliness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Refreshment stops: ⭐⭐⭐
Barriers: ⭐
Surface: ⭐⭐

Overall: ⭐⭐

The grading system I use is explained here.

Forecast for the Hornsea Rail Trail

What the Hornsea Rail Trail looks like

Hornsea_geograph-5401984-by-N-Chadwick
Hornsea_geograph-6108447-by-Des-Blenkinsopp
Hornsea_geograph-6879893-by-Malc-McDonald
Hornsea_geograph-6903431-by-habiloid
previous arrowprevious arrow
next arrownext arrow
Shadow

DayCycle

DayCycle routes are routes 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. Many contain detailed route guides, as well as embedded maps (like the one below) from which you can download the GPX file for the route.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.