Grizedale Stone Fox Sculpture – Hawkshead Village loop from Satterthwaite

Mountain biking trails

Grizedale Stone Fox Sculpture – Hawkshead Village loop from Satterthwaite

Moderate

5.0

(3)

riders

Grizedale Stone Fox Sculpture – Hawkshead Village loop from Satterthwaite

02:42

29.8km

660m

Mountain biking

Moderate mountain bike ride. Good fitness required. Advanced riding skills necessary. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: October 8, 2026

Tips

Includes a segment in which cycling is not permitted

After 24.7 km for 131 m

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

6.03 km

Sandstone Fox Sculpture

Highlight • Structure

always nice to get to the fox , so many options around Grizedale from there

Tip by

6.24 km

Flat out fast descent, double track with natural drops and rock sections. Look out for motorbikes and 4x4’s as this is an open green lane.

Take care when you get to the bottom of the track as it goes straight onto a road.

Tip by

7.35 km

Rocky Trail Finish – Lake District National Park

Highlight • Climb

The end of the trail spits you straight out onto a road. Anchor on early.

Tip by

11.8 km

Rigg Wood

Forest

19.4 km

Hawkshead Village

Highlight • Settlement

Hawkshead is an ancient township that has flourished since Norse times, belonging to Furness Abbey until the 12th Century. The monks owned Hawkshead Hall, just outside the village, of which the National Trust owned Hawkshead Courthouse is all that remains. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1537, Hawkshead grew as a market town, with many buildings dating from the 17th Century.

Hawkshead is still the same tiny village of higgledy-piggledy houses, archways, and squares beloved by William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. Cars are banned from the village, there being a large car park on the outskirts of the village. Tourism is now the main industry of Hawkshead, with many pleasant inns, guest houses, teashops and gift shops.

Whilst at school in Hawkshead, William lodged with Ann Tyson and her husband, who were in their sixties, first in the village, then at Colthouse where they moved in 1783. Anne Tyson’s cottage is now used as a holiday cottage.

The Old Grammar School was founded in 1585 by the Archbishop of York, Edwin Sandys. The ground floor classroom retains many old desks covered in carving done by the boys, including the poet William Wordsworth and his brother John. The school closed in 1909. Upstairs in the headmaster’s study and a classroom containing an exhibition relating to the history of the school, the founder and William Wordsworth.

The Beatrix Potter Gallery, a 17th Century building, was once the office of the local solicitor William Heelis, who married Beatrix Potterin 1913, and has remained largely unaltered since his day. The Gallery, now owned byThe National Trust, houses an annually changing exhibition of a selection of Beatrix Potter’s original drawings and illustrations. The National Trust also own many other buildings in the village, thus preserving its almost museum like air.

About half a mile out of Hawkshead is the hamlet of Colthouse. Here is one of the oldest Quaker meeting houses in Cumbria.

The 17th Century Church of St Michael & All Angels stands high looking out over the village, and has fine views to Esthwaite Water, Claife Heights, Latterbarrow, Helvellyn and the Langdales.

Tip by