Scar House Cycle Route

Scar House Walking & Cycle Routes are a permissive bridleway loop around Yorkshire Water’s Scar House Reservoir which comes to 4 miles and crosses both dams at the top of the valley. For walkers it can be extended with a further loop of rough yomping around Angram Reservoir to the remote top of Nidderdale under the shadow of Great Whernside, a peak of 704m which separates Nidderdale and Wharfedale. The route is well surfaced up the southern side of the reservoir and over the dam of Angram reservoir, while the return along the northern side of Scar House of Reservoir is fields and uneven track. The Dams were built to provide water to the Bradford area and were completed in 1936. Scar house damn contains over one million tonnes of masonry and from the centre viewing platform visitors can look out over the valley from a height of over 70 meters. This point is also the geographical halfway point of the Nidderdale way. There is a free car park and facilities at the end of the 3 mile access road. Turn right between the two gate posts when leaving lofthouse, look for the blue Yorkshire Water sign.