North Dorset Trailway Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
The North Dorset Trailway is a 9 mile traffic-fee and stunning cycle route, built mostly on a disused railway. It links Sturminster Newton with Blandford Forum, and mostly follows the route of the old Somerset and Dorset Railway.
All photos by TessOfTheVale. Also visit her rather good site.
Surface on the North Dorset Trailway
The route is partially tarred, and where tarred is smooth. The bulk of the route is surfaced with self-compacting gravel, and can be somewhat bumpy in places.
Bikes
You can use any kind of bicycle along the route. After rain, you will benefit from mudguards.
Toilets
There are toilets at the start, then at the Old Shillingstone Station Café, and at the Railway Hotel in Blandford Forum.
Ratings
Safety: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hilliness: ⭐⭐⭐
Refreshment stops: ⭐⭐⭐
Barriers: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Surface: ⭐⭐⭐
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐
Points of Interest
If you can, consider visiting Sherborne Castle. At Shillingstone station, work is progressing with a heritage railway.
Routes in Dorset
Barriers
There are no barriers along this route, but there are some gates, and a few bollards. The bollards shouldn’t prevent a trike from getting through. The gates form a loose and quite wide chicane.
Forecast for the North Dorset Trailway
What the North Dorset Trailway looks like
Getting there
The nearest train station is Sherborne, but there is no straightforward way of cycling to the start. Any route will inevitably involve at least some stretches of a fast A-road. Sadly, that means most people are reduced to getting to the start by driving.
More Routes
To find more routes, click this link.
Interactive map for the North Dorset Trailway
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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