Blog Post

Carsington Water

Mick C • 29 October 2021

A lovely loop around Carsington Water

Carsington Wateris just up the road from Matlock and I mean up the road, a very steep road. Its an excellent place for a bike ride around the lake with no navigation required. Not only is it good for a bike ride there is loads to do après bike, especially with the family. After packing the bike up there’s plenty of room for a picnic and a Frisbee throw. There’s a decent sized playground for the younger ones. Then the visitor centre is worth checking out, it has a display and activities to show how the water filtering is done by Severn Trent to get clean water to us. Above the centre is the café which does some decent food and has a nice veranda for sitting out in the sun. Outside is a little courtyard with few dinky shops. From the centre it’s worth a stroll to the mini castle (as I call it). Actually called ‘Stones Island’ its a circular wall which provides a nice viewing point of the lake.

Its always a good idea to get there early as the car park can fill up really quickly, just like the Monsal Trailat Hassop Station. It’s a massive car park but in the summer is rammed. Parking charges aren’t too bad either, £3 for two hours or £5 for the whole day. They now use some modern system where it captures your registration on entry and you can pay online on the way home. The Carsington Water website says you have 24 hours after your visit to pay online or via an app. Alternatively, there are two other car parks on the lake that you can park at, start your ride, stop at the centre, and then finish the loop. If you feel like it, it’s not far to park at one of the other car parks and walk it to the centre and back.

So, what about the bike loop. I’ll take you through the route as if parking in the main car park. Obviously you can do the loop either way round but just to let you know the easier side is the west part of the lake and the more undulating is the east side, so it depends which side you want to tackle first. I tend to take the kids on the easier side first.

Once the bikes are ready and your helmet is on, head straight to the entrance of the main building (where the café is). Pass the entrance to head north and start the loop of the reservoir. If North isn’t obvious, the best way to describe the direction is when you first entered the car park bike to the left corner to start the loop and you’ll return back from the right corner near the playground.

The first mile is lovely especially if there isn’t many people around. It’s a fairly flat concrete path that turns into a hard packed trail. There are some nice views of the lake on the right if you peer through the trees and over the hedges. Eventually, just before you complete the first mile, you come to a sign indicating a steep slope that bikers should dismount. It is a steep slope but very rideable if you are used to feathering your breaks and riding steeper sections. However don’t go hurtling down as there are often people walking up and there is a sharp switch back at the bottom.

At the bottom you reached the switch back and its key to change to a low gear as the next few hundred metres is the corresponding uphill. At the top you’ll be able to see the waters edge. As you swing left you get an amazing view of the whole lake. A great place for a photo.

It’s then flat and pretty straight for the next mile. I always go clockwise around the lake cause this side of the lake eases you into the ride before reaching the harder second half. Along this trail don’t miss the look out tower. A great place to stop have a drink and climb the tower to take in the view.

The next focal point is the Sheepwash car park at the north end of the lake. You reach a large grassed area and the trail follows an arc around it with the car park on the left. Head past the car park and then it’s parallel to the road and the lake through mile two and for about half a mile. At this point it’ll feel like you are biking away from the lake, but you are actually reaching the very Northeast tip of the lake. The lake gets very swamp like before switching back and heading Southwest to bike the more difficult East side of the lake.

The East Side of the lake is very well sign posted for bikers. Try and take notice as there are some steep sections that can be outside the skill range of a novice biker. After the switchback head along the hard packed trail running along side the lake. At the start of mile 3 it gets a little more lumpy with up and downs but still smooth trail.

The track bends left to follow the lake and you hit one of the more enjoyable sections, downhill on a quality forest trail. It is a section that you can let the brakes go as it’s straight, flat, and not technical. When it’s sunny it’s even better as the light floods through the trees creating a flicker. I’m sure you’ll cruise down the trail with a big smile on your face.

The speed comes to an abrupt end as the trail takes a left onto a fifty metre sharp climb up to a gate. It’s climbable your bike but if you stumble halfway, you can jump off and walk the rest, through gate. The track takes you through a field next. At this point you are quite high up as you look right to see the lake down below. There are a couple of benches so a good place for a well-deserved stop.

Exit the field to continue. Check the signs as its then downhill with another switch back that changes your direction from going east to going west. You are now halfway down the east side of the lake four and a half miles into the ride. From this point the south east side is very undulating with plenty of warning signs to follow but loads of fun.

After a mile and a half of fast, slow, get off the bike, get back on the bike, fast, slow, you’ll reach Millfield’s car park at the very south tip of the lake. Now six miles in and all the tricky sections done it’s the last bit. The final mile should be easy as you change direction around the car park to head back north. The trail takes to a flat straight track on a high ridge with great views of the lake to the right and a steep slope on the left over looking the road. The problem can be that it is so open here any slight wind feels like a gale, on top of that, it gets busy with walkers. It’s a nice section to take in the views, all the way through the last mile. The final few hundred metres is a wooded section on a thin track that crosses the road entrance to the sailing club. You’ll appear back into the car park right next to the playground. I can guarantee the car park will nearly be full by the time you return.