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Leeds Urban Bike Park Cycling Review For Families

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Route at a glance

Total distanceFlexible loops: Green trail ~1.4 mi; family loop ~3.6 mi; full network ~7 mi
DifficultyAll grades on site — stick to Green/Blue with kids
Top things to see
  • Hub: pump track, BMX track, café & bike shop
  • Flowy woodland singletrack & skills areas (observe signage)
  • Easy link into Middleton Park paths & play areas

Leeds Urban Bike Park is a gem of a project by Leeds council, the lottery funded and British Cycling & Sports England. At the top part of Middleton park is a mountain bike trail centre and BMX Track, a bike shop with a workshop and a cafe. The bike park consists of multiple different trails across all difficulty levels.

It’s incredibly family-friendly and is suitable for all ages. Best of all it’s completely free of charge. It connects nicely with the wider Middleton park meaning you can enjoy the facilities available including kids park and much more.

It’s run as a community project meaning it’s not for profit. Parking and the bike park are completely free but you can support them by purchasing items in the bike store or in the cafe.

There’s an abundance of courses and circuits that continue into the woodland. Our daughter absolutely loved it and we could have stayed for hours. Even for non-riders Middleton park has plenty of walking trails for you to enjoy.

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Pugneys Country Park cycling for families

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Route at a glance

Total distance1.6-mile / 2.6-km flat lakeside loop (option to climb to Sandal Castle)
DifficultyEasy · mostly flat · fully traffic-free around the lake
Top things to see
  • Lakeside play areas & “sunken ship” zone
  • Miniature railway & café by the main building
  • Views from Sandal Castle on the optional detour

Pugneys Country Park is a 250-acre park located on the A636 between Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England and Junction 39 of the M1 motorway. It is a Local Nature Reserve. The area was developed from a former opencast mine and a sand and gravel quarry and was opened to the public in 1985.

As residents of Sandal, we live close to Pugneys park, meaning we’ve visited quite frequently over the years. Best of all it’s accessible via bike for those who live in the local area. If you live in Sandal you can take the route down Milnthorpe Lane and past the Farm that the Castle overlooks. From here you can pick up a public footpath route to Pugneys.

If you are not local it’s still a wonderful place to visit. With watersports, a children’s play area, a cafe and a miniature railway there’s plenty to keep you entertained for the whole day.

Best of all it’s cycle friendly and with a 1.6-mile flat gravel loop around the lake, it’s very much possible for children of all ages to enjoy.

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Walton Colliery Nature Park cycling for families

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Walton Colliery Nature Park

Route at a glance

Total distance~1.3–1.9 miles (2–3.1 km) loops; longest is the Blue waymarked circuit
DifficultyEasy · mostly flat with a few gentle inclines · fully traffic-free inside the park
Top things to see
  • Lakes, wildflowers & rewilded colliery landscape
  • Benches/picnic spots; great confidence-builder loops
  • Sits on/near NCN 67 (TPT) for longer rides

The nature park is on the site of the old Walton Colliery (formerly Sharlston West Colliery).
Walton has a long history of coal mining, with documentary evidence of estate and field names dating local mining activities back to the 17th century. In the 1930’s it’s said up to 1200 people worked at the colliery. It eventually closed in 1979.

From 1993 work began to turn this once industrial mine into a place for nature. Work was eventually completed in 1996 and designated a local nature reserve in 2008.

Walton Colliery is now a nature park filled with lakes and wildflowers and offers hiking, cycling and equestrian trails. It’s a wonderful example of a rewilding project and how a former industrial site can become a place where walkers, cyclists and horse owners can enjoy peace within calm surroundings.

As a family, it’s a great place to visit with your children. Traffic-free routes, well-maintained services; an enclosed, safe area for them to express their cycling ability.

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Knaresborough to Ripley (Nidderdale Greenway) Cycle Route For Families

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Route at a glance

Total distance~10 miles / 16 km out & back (from Knaresborough)
DifficultyBeginner–Intermediate · steady climb leaving Knaresborough, then gentle rail-path
Top things to see
  • Beryl Burton Cycleway & big viaduct views
  • Ripley Castle green, play park & ice cream stop
  • Knaresborough riverside & castle at start/finish

Where does the ride take me?

The reason this is called 2.0 is because the first time we completed this route (but the other way round) was on Daddy’s Day a few weeks ago but unfortunately something happened to me that has never happened before…all of the photos I took had not been saved when I looked the next day. I was a little upset as I had taken care to picture everything I thought important to guide another family on the trip however we just decided it was no biggie and we would just have to do the route again asap! 

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Ripley – Hampsthwaite Cycle Route For Families

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Route at a glance

Total distance≈5–6 miles / 8–10 km out & back
DifficultyIntermediate for kids · steep return climb from Hampsthwaite; otherwise quiet lanes/paths
Top things to see
  • Spring bluebells through the woods
  • Sophie’s Café on the village square
  • Ripley Castle village & play park for picnics

Since we bought a bike rack we spend our weekends finding places where we can enjoy a family cycle. Sometimes they are closer to home, other times a little further afield. One such area we gravitate towards is North Yorkshire. It’s a road cyclist’s paradise and makes up some of the routes of the tour de Yorkshire.

It also happens to have some wonderful trails; perfect for families. We really like the village of Ripley close to Harrogate in North Yorkshire. Not only does it have a beautiful castle but also world-famous ice cream, a lovely little park for the kids and best of all free parking. As far as villages go it sets a high benchmark for others to follow!

I was aware you can actually get from Ripley to Fountains Abbey however the route is over 6 miles which felt a little long for a 6-year-old.

We, therefore, took advice from fellow cyclists to take the path from Ripley to Hampsthwaite where there’s a little cafe to enjoy.

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Rabbit Ings Country Park Cycling for Families

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Rabbit Ings Country Park Cycling

Route at a glance

Total distanceTypical family circuit ~3 miles / 4.9 km (longer options & hilltop spur available)
DifficultyEasy–Moderate · entirely traffic-free within the park · a few short climbs
Top things to see
  • Panoramic views from the hilltop
  • Wetland & woodland wildlife (bring binoculars)
  • Free parking; quiet, confidence-building trails

As a family, we are always on the lookout for new safe cycle paths to explore. With a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old cycling is the perfect activity for the whole family. It’s free, safe and great exercise.

Living in Sandal, Wakefield we try and explore as many places as local to our home as possible. As a former mining area, we are lucky that a number of the former Collieries have been turned into Nature reserves and cycle paths making them perfect for a family afternoon visit.

In the October half-term holidays, we took a trip to Rabbit Ings Country Park in Royston which is 5 miles from our home. With our bikes safely secured on our bike rack, we ventured along to check out the cycle paths.

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Spofforth – Wetherby Railway Path Cycling for Families

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Route at a glance

Total distance~3 miles / 4.8 km each way (≈6 miles / 9.6 km out & back)
DifficultyEasy · flat disused railway path · mostly traffic-free
Top things to see
  • Spofforth Castle ruins & nearby play/nature area
  • Quiet tree-lined rail path with farmland views
  • Plenty of food options in Wetherby for a mid-ride stop

As a family, we are always on the lookout for new safe cycle paths to explore. With a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old cycling is the perfect activity for the whole family. It’s free, safe and great exercise. Our little boy Barney loves sitting on the back taking in all the nature as we ride along.

We recently came across the Wetherby Railway Path which is a disused Railway line connecting the village of Spofforth with Wetherby and continues through to Thorp Arch. In the October half term we ventured across to take the bikes on the route.

This route was created by Sustrans who are a charity whose sole purpose is to make it easier for people to walk and cycle. The roads have become hell zones in the past 10 years with cyclists (literally) pushed to the side. The rise in SUVs has compounded this further and made road cycling a less safe place to be.

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