Railway Street, Langley Park. Photo: Ann Hodgson / Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Official route · Sustrans
NCN 14 - Three Rivers
The route starts flat on old colliery lines east of Haswell, then climbs steadily through Durham city and on to Consett, never pitching steeply but accumulating height over a long middle section.
Surfaces are mostly compacted gravel or cinder track and hold up well, though they soften after rain. From Consett you drop north-east along the Derwent valley to join the Tyne at Swalwell, and the final stretch into Newcastle and Gateshead runs on paved riverside paths with the bridges in front of you. East of Gateshead the route crosses to the south bank and follows the river out through Felling, Jarrow and into South Shields.
The figures
| Distance | 82.1 km |
|---|---|
| Climbing | 822 m |
| Off road | 28 km, about 34% of the route |
| Riding time | about 5 hours, a long day |
| Region | North East England |
| Route from | Sustrans |
When to ride it
Spring through autumn suits it best; the exposed ridgeline approaching Consett can be wet and windy in winter, and the unsurfaced sections become churned after prolonged rain.
Worth knowing before you go
Durham city is the one reliable point for resupply in the first half; the stretch from Langley Park to Consett and on down the Derwent valley is thinly served, so carry food and water from there. Navigation through Newcastle and Gateshead needs attention where the signed route crosses roads and drops onto shared paths. The section between Haswell and Sherburn Hill passes several former colliery sites, and the infrastructure around some of them is still visible from the track.
Put your own dates on this and TourTrax splits it into days at your pace, finds somewhere to sleep at the end of each one, estimates what it will cost and gets you to the start without flying.
Plan this route → Download the GPXGetting there
Trains reach most routes in Britain with the bike built and no box. Overland to the start carries the rail and ferry chains into Europe, and the planner times the legs for your dates.