Sheep pasture on the road to Priors Halton Sheep pasture on the road to Priors Halton. Photo: Trevor Rickard / Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Open the interactive map → Map of NCN 44 - Six Castles Way

Official route · Sustrans

NCN 44 - Six Castles Way

109 km 1808 m climbing About 2 days 4% off road Road cycling West Midlands

The route leaves Shrewsbury through suburbs and eases south-west through a run of small settlements before the Shropshire Hills impose themselves.

The surface is almost entirely road. Beyond Minsterley the lane network thins and the climbing accumulates through Churchstoke and on toward Lydbury North, then eases as you descend through Craven Arms and follow the valley south through Onibury and Ludford. The final stretch from Pipe Aston through Luston into Leominster is gentler and more open.

The figures

Distance109 km
Climbing1808 m
Off road5 km, about 4% of the route
Riding timeabout 6 hours, roughly 2 days at a moderate pace
RegionWest Midlands
Route fromSustrans

Worth knowing before you go

Craven Arms is the only settlement of any size between Minsterley and Leominster, so carry food and water for the long middle section. The route is around four percent off road, but that fraction can catch you if your tyres are narrow. Navigation through the Shrewsbury suburbs at the start repays attention.

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.

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Other route guides

NCN 44 - Six Castles Way is an official route from Sustrans (their website).