Bike hire at Windermere Canoe Kayak, Bowness-on-Windermere
Where to park?
On peak days you want to make sure that you leave enough time to reach us and to ensure you have enough time to find a space in a car park that may be busy.
- Ferry Nab Car Park is the closest, only a 2 minute walk away, use LA23 3BF to find it.
- Braithwaite Fold Car Park is the next nearest and only a 5 minute walk. It is larger so can be a good alternative to the Ferry Nab Car Park when full. You can find it on Glebe Road, use postcode LA23 3HE to find it.
- For more info on parking in Bowness-on-Windermere have a look HERE.
- Staying in the Lake District for a few days or longer? Consider a 3 day or 7 day parking pass instead of pay as you go. It works out much better value for money. For prices and a list of participating car parks look HERE.
On peak days make sure that you leave enough time to reach us on roads that are slower than they may usually be. Make sure that you have enough time to find a space in a car park that may be very busy.
What can you hire?
- Premium Electric Hybrid Bikes, to make light work of the hills as you explore the gentle lanes and trails in The Lakes.
- Standard Mountain Bikes, in a broad range of sizes incl Youth and Children's options. Suitable for a wide range of off road terrain, EXCEPT the very roughest of Lake District trails.
- We have trailers that are suitable for one or two children. Only compatible with standard mountain bikes.
- We have a tag-a-long for younger riders not ready for their own wheels yet. Only compatible with standard mountain bikes.
- We also have children's seats available to fit our bikes (Only supplied on 17"/M and 19"/L standard mountain bikes).
Hire is always best booked in advance online to ensure you can ride on the day you want to. We will also be happy to get you out on a bike should you just turn up, as long as we have them available.
Why ride from here?
Bowness-on-Windermere is a great starting point for those wishing to avoid busy roads, as we are right next the Windermere Ferry. A short crossing puts you on the scenic western shore, where you can use bridleways and quiet lanes to get around. This makes it a particularly great spot for families to start out from.
- The Wray Castle Trail - Leave the ferry and head out along the scenic western lake shore, up to the grand Wray Castle, with (in our opinion) some of the best placed picnic benches the Lake District has to offer. This is a great place to stop, explore the castle or the kids woodland play area, then simply retrace your steps or choose from a number of routes to find your way back. There and back is one of the flattest routes we can offer in the Lakes (disclaimer - there are still hills!).
- The Beatrix Potter Trail - Continue on a circular route from Wray Castle, and follow the Beatrix Potter Trail to Hawkshead via quiet lanes, then down past Esthwaite Water to Beatrix Potters Hilltop Farm, before looping back to the ferry. This is suitable as a family ride with a trailer or a child seat, and also suitable for experienced and willing young riders.
- Claife Heights MTB route - We have a route planned up and over the top of this easily accesible fell. Epic vistas are available for those seeking a bit more of a challenging ride, both vertically and terrain wise. Also suited to experienced young MTB'ers too.
Route information
On the day we can advise on suitable routes, and can issue you with a basic leaflet style map of local accessible trials.
Should you wish to view some of our recommended routes in advance, or in more detail, then you can do so on our "Cycle Routes" page. You may download a PDF guide to the from here (which you can print if you would like to), and you may also download a GPX file if you would like to follow your chosen route on a device.
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Click HERE for a selection of our most popular routes