Why this ride
A 123 km round trip from Birtley - roughly 2 h 10 in the saddle. The stops in between: Hadrian's Wall, Frontiers of the Roman Empire, The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg and Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & and Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 123 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 10
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & → Hadrian's Wall
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 17 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 14 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &
Of all the Roman sites along Hadrian's Wall, Carrawburgh may be the most mysterious. The fort itself, called Brocolitia, is largely unexcavated, a grassy platform beside the Military Road, but just below it, in a boggy hollow, stands the reconstructed outline of a small temple of Mithras, the soldiers' god, whose cult was popular among the Roman army. The temple was excavated in 1949, and its three altars, now replaced by replicas, the originals being in the Great North Museum in Newcastle, were dedicated by commanders of the garrison. Nearby, a spring dedicated to the water goddess Coventina yielded an astonishing hoard of coins, altars and offerings when it was excavated in the nineteenth century, around thirteen thousand coins in all.
Read the complete Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall.
2. Hadrian's Wall
North of Haltwhistle the land rises in a series of dark ridges, and along their crest runs the most dramatic surviving stretch of Hadrian's Wall. Built from AD 122 on the orders of the emperor Hadrian, the wall ran some seventy three miles from the Tyne to the Solway, with forts, milecastles and turrets along its length, and here, between Walltown Crags and Birdoswald, it climbs and drops along the edge of the Whin Sill, a band of hard volcanic rock that forms natural cliffs facing north. The wall is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
3. Frontiers of the Roman Empire
The Wall comes into its own here, at the Irthing gorge, where the line runs along a high shelf above the river and you can see why the Romans picked it. Birdoswald fort, known to them as Banna, sits right on that edge, with a long view down the valley and the ground falling away to the water.
Read the complete Frontiers of the Roman Empire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 29 km into the recorded legs you reach Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Next is The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg.
4. The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg
Steel Rigg is the place everyone photographs. The crag rises steeply from the road, with the Wall running along its top and dipping into a gap known as Sycamore Gap, where a single tree stood for generations in a perfect V of the hills, until it was felled one night in September 2023. The loss caused shock across the country, and the stump now sprouts new shoots. The vallum, the great ditch and mounds south of the Wall, runs beside the road at the foot of the crags, and here it is clearly visible, a long straight hollow in the field, with the mounds standing on either side.
Read the complete The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg, about halfway. Next is Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H.
5. Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H
Birdoswald stands on a bluff above the River Irthing in Cumbria, almost at the point where Hadrian's Wall leaves the flatter country near Carlisle and begins to climb into the harder, wilder ground of Northumberland. The Roman fort here was called Banna, and it was one of the larger forts along the wall, home to a cohort of auxiliary soldiers. What makes it special is that you can walk along a stretch of the wall that stands tall, with the original facing stones and the line of the turrets still visible, and look out over a steep wooded gorge where the Irthing cuts through red sandstone.
Read the complete Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg.
6. back through The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg comes up about 79 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
7. back through Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Frontiers of the Roman Empire write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall.
8. back through Hadrian's Wall
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall, late in the day. Next is Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &.
9. Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 123 km.
Leg by leg
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & to Hadrian's Wall
Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & → Hadrian's Wall is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall to Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Hadrian's Wall → Frontiers of the Roman Empire is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire to The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg
Frontiers of the Roman Empire → The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg to Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H
The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg → Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H to back through The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg
Birdoswald Roman fort and the section of H → back through The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg to back through Frontiers of the Roman Empire
back through The vallum between the road to Steel Rigg → back through Frontiers of the Roman Empire is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Frontiers of the Roman Empire to back through Hadrian's Wall
back through Frontiers of the Roman Empire → back through Hadrian's Wall is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall to Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall &
back through Hadrian's Wall → Carrawburgh Roman fort & Hadrian's Wall & is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.