An adventure bike changes which green lanes make sense. A 200 kg bike on road-biased tyres doesn't want deep ruts, slippery clay or a rock step you have to bounce up. It wants a firm base, room to pick a line, somewhere to turn round if it goes wrong, and views worth the effort. These are the lanes that fit that brief best in England and Wales, from easy chalk ridges to a proper mountain crossing.
Every lane here is recorded as a byway open to all traffic (BOAT) or an unclassified county road (UCR), and each name links to its page on Holloway with the current status as we know it. A few have winter closures, and as this goes up in October some of them are shut until spring. That's flagged under each one.
What makes a lane suit a big bike
- A firm base. Chalk, gravel and old stone roads hold up. Clay and peat don't, especially after rain.
- Width. Room to ride round a puddle or a fallen branch, and to let a horse rider past without stopping on a slope.
- Few nasty surprises. Deep fords and rock steps are fine on a light trail bike and a different matter on a loaded adventure bike.
- Clear legal status. No point planning a day round a lane with a TRO on it. Check before you go, every time.
None of this means you need a smaller bike, though it's worth reading why being overbiked makes green laning harder before you pick a lane.
Easy wins: the chalk and the Roman roads
The Ridgeway, Wiltshire and Berkshire
The best known green lane in England, and the one most adventure riders start with. It runs along the top of the North Wessex Downs past Avebury and Barbury Castle on a broad chalk and flint track, mostly wide and firm, with long views across the downs. The Wiltshire section near Winterbourne Monkton is about 17 km on its own.
The Ridgeway at Hackpen Hill, Wiltshire. Photo: Brian Robert Marshall, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
Closed in winter. Most of the Ridgeway we map is closed to motor vehicles from 1 October to 30 April, including the Berkshire section near Compton, which is under a council order. So it's shut as you read this, and opens again in May. In summer, ride it slowly: it's a National Trail, and it's busy with walkers, cyclists and horses.
Ox Drove, Cranborne Chase
An old drovers' road along the chalk ridge south of Salisbury, with long views over Cranborne Chase and almost no traffic. The section near Bowerchalke runs for about 14 km, which makes it one of the longer single lanes in the south.
Sheep grazing beside the Ox Drove on Cranborne Chase. Photo: Simon Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
It's mapped as seasonal, closed to motor vehicles from 1 November to 31 March. That comes from OpenStreetMap tagging rather than a council order we've read, so check it locally before a winter ride.
Fosse Way, Wiltshire
The Roman road from Exeter to Lincoln still survives as byway in places, and the stretches in north Wiltshire are a gentle, straight introduction for a big bike: about 6 km near Crudwell and another 6 km near Norton. Expect a flat dirt track between hedges, with puddles after rain.
The Fosse Way byway, Wiltshire. Photo: James Ayres, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
One thing to know near Norton: cars are banned there, and motorcycles stay legal but must keep to the designated track where the byway has more than one line. The lane page has the order.
Harrow Way, Hampshire
One of the oldest tracks in Britain, older than the Romans, the Harrow Way near Quidhampton gives about 5 km of firm, dry-weather lane through farmland and woods. A good one to pair with the other Hampshire chalk byways for a full day.
The Harrow Way, Hampshire. Photo: ad acta, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
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Hill country: the border and the Berwyn
Kerry Ridgeway, Shropshire and Powys
An ancient drovers' route along the ridge between Kerry and Bishop's Castle, on the border between England and Wales. The Shropshire section near Sarn is about 6 km, and more continues on the Welsh side. It's high and open, mostly a grassy track with firm ground under it, and the views run a long way into Wales.
The Kerry Ridgeway. Photo: Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
Ffordd Pen Bwlch Llandrillo, the Berwyn
A proper mountain crossing, and one of the longest UCRs in Wales. Ffordd Pen Bwlch Llandrillo runs about 14 km over the Berwyn from Llandrillo to Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, through open moorland with nothing but sheep for company.
The old track across the Berwyn from Llandrillo to Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog. Photo: Eric Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
It's remote. Ride it with someone else, in the dry, and with enough fuel to turn back. A UCR is on the council's list of streets, which doesn't confirm motor vehicle rights the way a BOAT designation does, so it's worth a check with the council or local riders before you go.
Mountain lanes: the Lakes and Snowdonia
The Old Coach Road, Lake District
The one most people mean when they talk about green laning in the Lakes. The Old Coach Road runs about 8 km between Dockray and St John's in the Vale, under Clough Head at the northern end of the Helvellyn range, and the summit is above 400 metres. It was the main road east to west before the railway came.
The Old Coach Road below Threlkeld Knotts. Photo: Oliver Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
Most of it is a stony track that a careful rider can manage on an adventure bike in the dry, with wet and rutted patches like the one above. It's high and exposed, so pick a dry day. Our guide to the best green lanes in the Lake District covers the rest of the Lakes network and why the National Park handles lanes differently.
Sarn Helen, near Betws-y-Coed
Sarn Helen is the Roman road that runs the length of Wales. The section above Rhiwddolion, near Betws-y-Coed, is about 3 km of stone road between old walls and woods, short but very good, and easy to link with the forest roads and passes around Snowdonia.
Sarn Helen above Rhiwddolion. Photo: Andy Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
Walkers use it a lot, as the photo shows, so take it slowly. The southern Sarn Helen near Resolven and Abergarwed is a different story: it's only open to motor vehicles from 1 June to 21 August each year.
The step up: Strata Florida
Strata Florida is the most famous byway in Wales, about 12 km through the Cambrian Mountains between Pontrhydfendigaid and the Abergwesyn mountain road. It's included here because adventure riders ask about it more than any other lane, but be honest with yourself before you try it on a big bike. It has a run of river crossings, rocky climbs and loose stone, and after heavy rain the fords can be genuinely dangerous.
The byway to Strata Florida, with one of its crossings. Photo: Roger Kidd, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
If you go, go in a group, walk the fords before you ride them, and turn round if the water is up. Our guide to the best green lanes in Wales has more on it, and on the Elan Valley lanes nearby.
Before you go
- Check the status on the day. Each lane on Holloway has a one-tap Legal Status Search for current closures and Traffic Regulation Orders. Lanes close for repairs, for the season, or for good.
- Ride in the dry. Most damage to lanes, and most dropped adventure bikes, happen in the wet.
- Tyres matter more than anything else. A 50/50 tyre is the least you'd want on these. Something knobblier, like the Michelin Tracker or another 70/30 or 80/20 tyre, makes most of them far easier, especially in the wet. The Holloway Tyre Finder compares the options for your bike.
- Keep it quiet and slow. Give way to walkers and horses, and leave gates as you found them. How we ride these lanes decides whether they stay open: our Keep lanes open page explains how to help.
All of these, and thousands more, are on the Holloway map, free with a quick email sign-in. Premium lets you join several lanes into one route with road links between them, download it as a GPX and navigate it on the bike.
*Open to motorcycles based on each lane's recorded designation. Legal status changes, so check signage and current Traffic Regulation Orders before riding. Photos are from Geograph, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 and credited under each one. Header photo: Trevor Littlewood, the Old Coach Road below Clough Head.
