At a Glance
- New Cycle Hub and Cafe Building
- Cycle fleet with Adult and childrens bikes
- Electric Bikes, E-trikes, Tag-alongs, Baby Chariots available
- Traffic-free cycling to Lydford
Cycling is a great sport for getting out with family and friends and keeping healthy. Situated on the edge of Dartmoor our center has access to a variety of routes, suitable for all levels of fitness.
Instructor-led cycling sessions can be booked for half-day and full days.
Granite Way Cycle Hire Shop Our Cycle Hire hub has a large fleet with a variety of different types of adult bikes and child bikes, as well as electric bikes, tag-a-longs, baby chariots, trikes and helmets. Plus you can grab a coffee or lunch to take along from the bike cafe. Please check out the link for pre-hire
Granite Way Cafe menu
The Cafe is open daily, see the main website for full information. The GWC Cafe is offering a full range of breakfast options, hot and cold drinks, cake and snacks. There are frequent special promotions, so look at our Facebook Page for Granite Way Cycles.
Great news for dog walkers using the Granite Way – we welcome dogs in the cafe as well and they can even get a Barke Farm ice-cream or a doggy treat.
GWCH - Accessibility Options E-trikes and E-Bikes
The Granite Way Cycle Hub has a range of options for those that find cycling difficult. We have one e-trike and four e-bikes as well as 3 trikes and 4 tag-a-long trike trailers, allowing those people that find cycling more difficult an option to try them out on the traffic-free Granite Way Cycle Trail. We have tested our trikes out on the cycle trail and they can navigate through all the gates, so its possible to travel to Lydford using the trikes and trike trailers.
These facilities were added as result of a grant from West Devon Borough Council.
Cycling routes from the Cycle Hub
The Granite Way (part of NCN 27) runs along Dartmoor’s old Victorian railway, so is low gradient and traffic-free offering a unique way to see the dramatic granite landscape of Dartmoor, as well as iconic bridges, castles and sites of geological interest. It’s surfaced for most of the 11 mile trail to Lydford so an easy ride for novices. It crosses the iconic Meldon Viaduct, a scheduled ancient monument as well as the stone built Lake Viaduct. Along the route there are refreshment options at the Pump and Pedal (Sourton), Castle Inn (Lydford) and the Lydford Gorge Tea-rooms. Watch out for Prisons, Castles and Churches along the route, as well as great views of Dartmoor.
North towards Abbeyford Woods (NCN 27) follows a combination of country roads and forestry tracks to Abbeyford woods (3 miles N. of Okehampton), where there are a variety of trails around the Forestry Plantation.
Okehampton Ranges – Ring Road. Cycle up to the High Moor past Okehampton Army Camp, and then use the Military Ring Road for a 4 mile circuit on a mix of surfaced and unsurfaced tracks. Need to check whether there’s any firing as this is a Army Range, but the route is usually accessible at weekends and during the school holidays.
The Pegasus Way (NCN 3) follows a combination of country roads and old railway lines. It branches off the Granite Way close to the Pump and Pedal (Sourton) and heads towards Holsworthy. Parts of the route are still being added, so at present it is not traffic free.
.
Secure Cycle Lockers
We have 8 secure cycle lockers for users of the Granite Way Cycle Hub.
Cycle the Granite Way: National Park Experience
This guided tour has been developed for the English National Park Experience Collection and is a spectacular new cycle ride through rural Devon with fantastic views of Dartmoor and the surrounding countryside. The Granite Way runs along Dartmoor’s old Victorian railway, offering a unique way to see the dramatic granite landscape of Dartmoor, as well as iconic bridges, castles and sites of geological interest.
Cycle Routes - Long Distance Options
The Youth Hostel also lies on three great long distance cycle routes. The most famous, is Lands End to John o’Groats, and the Cornwall and Devon sections can be underestimated by riders, as there are a lot of small rolling hills combining to make a large ascent. Okehampton is frequently the first stop-over on this route.
A great weekend Route is the Sustrans route NCN 27 or the Devon Coast to Coast which starts in Ilfracombe or Barnstaple and finishes in Plymouth. Okehampton is a central stop-over on this route, which can be done in two or three days.
There is also a long distance cycle route called the Transmanche which passes between Plymouth and Poole, and Okehampton is frequently the first stop-over on this route.