Hardknott Pass (West side)
Distance: 2.08 km
Elevation Gain: 276 m
Elevation Loss: 1 m
Difficulty:
445 (Moderate)
FIETS Index: 3.72 FIETS
Avg Grade: 13.48 %
Max cat climb: 3
Min elevation: 121 m
Max elevation: 397 m
Ride Category:
Climb
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Hardknott Pass links Eskdale with the Duddon valley, in the Lake District of Cumbria, England, UK, and with gradients of up to 1 in 3 it shares the title of England’s steepest road. Riders on the Fred Whitton Challenge, the Lake District sportive, climb it from this side after almost 100 miles. In 1911 the Cyclists’ Touring Club described the road as ‘difficult going West, cruel coming East’; this ride comes east.
This ride starts at Jubilee Bridge in Eskdale, and the road rears up at once. On the spur above the climb stands Hardknott Roman Fort, or Mediobogdum, built between 120 and 138 to guard the road from Ravenglass to Ambleside; its first garrison came from the Dalmatian coast. During the Second World War, tanks training on the pass wrecked the road, which was then rebuilt and surfaced. The ride ends at the 393 m summit.
