Why this ride
From Carlisle it runs 158 km to Carlisle; allow about 2 h 37 of riding. The stops in between: Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr, Hadrian's Wall, Bewcastle Roman fort and back through Hadrian's Wall.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 and Bewcastle Roman fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 158 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 37
- 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
Hadrian's Wall → Bewcastle Roman fort
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 25 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 33 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66
The western end of Hadrian's Wall runs right through Carlisle, and the stretch counted as wall mile 66 lies on the edge of the city, close to where the wall crossed the River Eden. The Roman town of Luguvalium grew up here, and the fort at Stanwix, across the river, housed a cavalry regiment and was the largest on the wall. Very little of the stone wall survives in the city, much of it having been robbed for buildings, but the line of the wall and vallum can be traced in places, and the Tullie House museum tells the story of Roman Carlisle with excellent displays.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr.
2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr
North-east of Brampton, the Wall climbs out of the Irthing valley and runs along a ridge past the hamlet of Banks, and here you can see something many visitors miss: not only the Wall itself, but the vallum, the great earthwork ditch with banks on either side that the Romans dug just south of it. The vallum marked a military zone, a controlled strip where civilians could not wander freely, and seeing its long straight line beside the stone curtain makes the frontier feel less like a wall and more like a whole system of control.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall.
3. 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
about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall. Next is Bewcastle Roman fort.
4. Bewcastle Roman fort
Bewcastle is one of the loneliest places in Cumbria, and it has been for a very long time. Roman soldiers built an outpost fort here, about ten kilometres north of Hadrian's Wall, on a plateau whose shape the walls followed, giving it an unusual six-sided plan. It was a forward base for scouts watching the tribes beyond the frontier, and it was linked to the Wall at Birdoswald by a road. Later, a medieval castle was built into one corner of the old Roman defences, and its broken walls still stand above the beck.
Read the complete Bewcastle Roman fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bewcastle Roman fort, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall.
5. 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 sits at 100 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr 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 and vallum between Banks Gr comes up about 137 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66.
7. Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr to Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr → Hadrian's Wall is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall to Bewcastle Roman fort
Hadrian's Wall → Bewcastle Roman fort is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bewcastle Roman fort to back through Hadrian's Wall
Bewcastle Roman fort → back through Hadrian's Wall is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr
back through Hadrian's Wall → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr to Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Gr → Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 66 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Roman quarry inscription on Queen's Crags and Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail · 151 km
- Burgh by Sands Roman fort and Red House Roman camp · 131 km
- Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel · 126 km
- Hadrian's Wall vallum between east side of and Red House Roman camp · 149 km