National Cycle Route 165
Route 165 near Commondale in the North York Moors
part of the W2W Cycle Route
Length	116 km (72 mi)
Location	County Durham North Yorkshire
Established	2007 (as Regional Route 52)
Designation	UK National Cycle Network
Trailheads	Barnard Castle (west) to Whitby (east)
Use	Cycling
Highest point	Commondale, 247 m (810 ft)
Lowest point	Ruswarp, 5 m (16 ft)
Difficulty	Moderate
Waymark	165
Website	www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/route-165/

National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 165 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Barnard Castle to Whitby. The route is 116 km (72 miles) long and is fully open and signed in both directions.^[1]

History

The W2W was launched on 1 June 2005 as a cross-country cycle route from Walney Island in Cumbria to Sunderland on the River Wear . In 2007 a southern branch from Barnard Castle to Whitby was added.^[2] This southern branch was originally classified as regional route 52, it was upgraded to National Cycle Network Route 165 in 2012.^[3] The Walney to Whitby route is 179 miles (288 km).^[4]

Route

v t e National Cycle Route 165
Legend
mi   70  to West and North 0 Barnard Castle 4   715  to North River Tees 20 Croft-on-Tees River Tees River Tees 31 Appleton Wiske 32 37   65  to South 39 Hutton Rudby River Leven 40   65  to North 47 Great Ayton 50 Kildale 52   168  to North 56 Commondale River Esk 58 Castleton River Esk 60 Danby 68 Egton 72 Sleights 74 Ruswarp River Esk 74   1  to South River Esk 76 Whitby   1  to North

The western trailhead is in Barnard Castle at a junction with Route 70. The route descends off the Durham Dales along the lower Tees Valley for 20 miles (32 km) to Croft-on-Tees near Darlington. Continuing on flat roads for 27 miles (43 km) until it reaches the North York Moors at Great Ayton. Following the Eskdale for the final 27 miles (43 km) the route crosses the River Esk four times before reaching its eastern trailhead at a junction with Route 1 on the outskirts of Whitby. This section includes several steep climbs and descents, some of them are on off-road tracks.^[5]

Related NCN routes

Route 165 is part of the W2W route along with:^[6]

Route 165 meets the following routes:

• 70 at Barnard Castle
• 715 at Whorlton
• 65 at Hutton Rudby
• 168 at Kildale
• 1 at Whitby